Project Cupid
by Genie For Your Wish
Summary: Mirajane had a whole filing cabinet filled with plans dedicated to matchmaking the two together. — GrayErza.
1. Prologue

Hey guys, this is a new fic I've been wanting to post up for a while now. It's GrayZa of course, and I'm hoping to help expand the fan base of this couple. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Lucy slumped unceremoniously into one of the bar stools as she rested her head on the bar counter, her arms acting as a pillow. She grumbled incoherently to herself as her mind replayed the events that occurred earlier that day. It was all because of a certain blue haired water mage that she was feeling so grumpy.

She didn't know what had prompted the girl to do it since she wasn't really doing anything with Gray but talk to him like she usually did. They were seated at one of the wooden tables, discussing Erza and Jellal with hushed whispers. Gray looked more frustrated than anything whilst Lucy was feeling quite sympathetic and perhaps irritated at the redhead. She had been crying more than usual ever since that encounter on the beach and the blonde was usually the one tasked with the job of consoling the crying girl. It was getting quite exhausting, especially since the celestial wizard couldn't catch a wink of sleep with Erza recently sleeping over at her house.

Maybe it was because they were probably sitting a little too close together, in order to converse in hushed whispers so as not to let others hear that Juvia ended up misinterpreting the entire scene and thought it would be fun if she accidentally sprayed water all over the girl before tripping on a sponge and 'accidentally' pulling her down with her. So not only did Lucy get soaked, but she also had a bruised fanny that was sure to cause much inconvenience in the future. Instead of helping her up, Juvia flashed her a devious wink before taking her previous spot muttering, "That's what you get for stealing my Gray-sama, love rival."

Lucy ended up asking Natsu to help her dry up with his flames, ironically copying Gray when he did the same actions to which she had originally scolded him for doing so. After finally drying up her clothes, she decided to go to the bar to clear her head. Honestly, these occurrences were becoming so frequent that it was grating on her nerves. How many times did she have to tell Juvia that she was not interested in Gray? It was like the girl purposely ignored her protests and was hell bent on keeping her grudge. Juvia was a great friend and all but sometimes, her Gray obsessed antics just got to her.

Lucy needed someone else to deal with all these plots because she had had enough. She was just not cut out in handling these sorts of things every single day. Perhaps someone else with a stronger will would be able to deal with this better than she ever could. Lucy wanted someone to replace her as Juvia's love rival, but the only question was _who_?

Mirajane noticed the blonde slumped over the bar counter in a rather depressive state. It made her curious as to why the ever bubbly Lucy Heartfilia was looking so down in the dumps. There was only one way to it, she decided. "What's wrong Lucy? You seem a little down," her sweet voice asked as she approached the girl.

Lucy looked up at the takeover mage and sighed. "It's Juvia," she replied rather exasperatedly, causing the mage to become even more curious.

"Juvia? What did Juvia do this time?"

The celestial wizard contemplated telling Mira the truth; on one hand she might be able to help but on the other, she might get into some uncalled for scheme. "She's been calling me her love rival since day one and ever since then, I've been tricked and almost killed by her. I don't know if I can take it anymore," Lucy explained earnestly, hoping she was making the right decision by telling her the truth.

Mira raised an eyebrow as she digested the girl's words. She never would have thought this would be the reason why Lucy was so down in the dumps. But she couldn't blame her. Juvia was a little bit much when it came to seeing Gray interacting with other girls, and she seemed to act particularly worse when she saw Gray with Lucy.

As Mira began to ponder, Lucy decided to begin voicing out her plans, forgetting the fact that she was talking to the guild's resident matchmaker. It was a bad move, she later learned. "I want someone else to replace me as Juvia's love rival. I just don't know who though. I was thinking of someone with a strong will who'd perhaps be able to scare Juvia in the process? But maybe that's a little too mean," she rambled on, Mira listening to the blonde's every word.

"So basically, you want to matchmake Gray with someone?" Mira asked cleverly.

Lucy nodded without a thought. "At least then, I wouldn't have Juvia on my back anymore. Plus Gray would stop moping to me about Erza, who's still moping about Jellal which is also one of the other reasons I'm feeling so out of it. Erza's been going to my house a lot lately to sleep over but she ends up crying in her sleep so I'm not able to get any sleep myself. I really do hope she'll move on quickly because I don't think I'll be able to deal with this any longer," she continued babbling. Normally, she wouldn't talk about her friends like this but the exhaustion has been taking its toll on her, making her seem a lot more snappy than usual.

Her words caused a light bulb to flicker inside Mirajane's head as a suddenly very bright smile appeared on the mage's face. Lucy stopped babbling when she realised that Mira wasn't listening, only to find the barmaid giving her a saccharine smile. "I think I can help you Lucy," she announced sweetly.

"Really Mira? You can?"

She nodded before taking the girl's hand to lead her into the storage room. Lucy followed along curiously until they reached another smaller room hidden at the very back of the storage room that contained numerous filing cabinets. Why someone needed so many in the guild, she'd never know as Mira led her to one cabinet in particular.

"What are we doing here Mira?" Lucy asked when Mira began to open a drawer.

Seeing as how she wouldn't respond, she decided to peer over the girl's shoulder to see what was in the cabinet. She saw numerous files, all organised in alphabetical order. Mira picked the first one and opened it, Lucy almost toppling over from the shock.

"Plan A? What is this Mira?"

Mira gave her another bright smile. "This is my matchmaking room. All my matchmaking plans are stored in these cabinets and they're labelled from A to Z. Each cabinet has plans specifically targeted toward a particular couple," she explained, her smile still in tack.

Lucy's brows furrowed. The takeover mage wasn't called the guild's resident matchmaker for nothing it seemed. "You have a filing cabinet filled with matchmaking plans? Then who's is the one your holding right now?"

She giggled. "This is Gray and Erza's cabinet," she revealed, pointing to the cabinet behind her.

The blonde's eyes dilated as her mouth hung ajar in shock. "You mean, you already have pre made matchmaking plans for Gray and Erza?"

Mira hummed in response. "I was waiting for the day when I could finally put my plans into action but now that you've come along and told me all about your situation, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to finally get those two love birds together."

Lucy groaned. Telling Mira was definitely a bad decision.


	2. Plan A

**PLAN A: ALCOHOL**

* * *

"Mira, I really don't think this is a good idea," Lucy piped doubtfully, watching from afar with the white haired barmaid.

Mira giggled. "There's nothing to worry about Lucy. Everything will work out fine in the end," she tried reassuring with a small smile.

The blonde was still not convinced. "But alcohol?" She asked skeptically, eyeing the spiked drinks in Mira's hands warily.

"It's the only way you'll get them to confess. Knowing Gray, whenever he gets drunk he starts spurting out his deepest secrets," Cana added, chugging down another barrel of beer.

The brunette had decided to join the both of them in their quest of matchmaking Gray and Erza – though Lucy was still reluctant in doing so – mainly because she was sick of seeing Gray act like a whiny, depressed loser. It turned out that Lucy wasn't the only one Gray went to mope to, with Cana being the person who was forced to give him advice. She wanted to get him with Erza already so that she could have some more drinking time since he always made it a habit of interrupting.

"But doesn't Erza become rather scary when she gets drunk?" Lucy retorted, remembering that one time when Erza had just one drop of liquor before turning into a bull that had seen red, threatening everyone she saw with a sword and throwing bottles at their heads for rebelling.

A suspicious looking smirk made its way onto Cana's face, causing the blonde to eye the girl rather warily, assuming that whatever she said next would not be something good. And she happened to be right when the card mage added, "I put a calming potion in her drink instead of alcohol, so don't worry your pretty little face."

"A calming potion?" She almost exclaimed out loud before Cana clamped a palm over the girl's mouth.

Letting go, she placed a finger on her lips. "Shh, there's no need to be so loud. I don't get why you're reacting so much. The calming potion isn't going to do any harm to her. It's just going to calm her down so that Gray can drunkenly confess to her and she won't overreact. You think I don't know how scary Erza can be when she's drunk?" Cana explained, Mira nodding along in agreement.

"You see Lucy, it's already part of the plan," she added, showing Lucy the Plan A file. Written inside with a neat scrawl, the words 'alcohol' and 'calming potion' stood out to her. Lucy handed back the file with an eyebrow raised.

"You mean, you actually planned all this and it wasn't just some last minute thing? How long ago did you even make these?" She questioned with bubbling curiosity. To think that Mira would be able to create all these with all the happenings going on lately in the guild. It was preposterous to think she would even have the time.

Mira flashed her a brilliant smile. "I made them the day Cana told me Gray's fortune when Erza walked into the guild."

Her brows furrowed. "And how long ago was that?"

When Mira started silently counting with her fingers, she just knew she was going to say something that would make her possibly collapse in disbelief. "Hmm, about eight to nine years ago, including the seven years we lost on Tenrou Island," she answered, bright smile still in tact.

"But, I started thinking about getting them together around eleven years ago, as revenge on Erza. I wanted to put her with someone she disliked but then a few years later, I began to realise how cute they actually looked together and so I started creating these matchmaking plans," Mira added.

Lucy's jaw dropped in disbelief as she felt her legs suddenly grow weak. _Eleven years? _Without the seven years lost, it would've meant four years ago which even so, was just as bad. "_Seriously_ Mira? You've already had them planned even before I joined the guild?"

She nodded, not sensing the problem. "You joining the guild seemed to strengthen my plans when you four started teaming up."

As she was about to make another incredulous comment, Cana intervened by pointing to the direction of the entrance. Erza and Gray had taken a mission together with Wendy and Carla and had returned just in time for the plan to finally begin. "They're here. You better get back to the bar Mira," the card mage advised.

Mira nodded before bringing the two drinks with her to the bar, hiding them with the other glasses on the shelf. She plastered another saccharine smile on her face as she saw the ice mage and the requip mage head into her direction. After knowing them for so long, she already knew of their habits. Each time the two returned from a mission, they would always head straight for the bar where she would immediately serve them their specific drinks. Erza would always be served a slice of strawberry cheesecake and a milkshake to suit her sweet tooth whilst Gray would be satisfied with a cold drink, most preferably lemonade or an iced coffee. Having used these details to her advantage, Mira was able to dissolve the transparent alcohol and calming potions within their specified drinks, successfully hiding any suspicious behaviour.

As expected, Gray and Erza were already seated at the bar counter, expectant looks on their faces. Without even asking, Mira took the two drinks and handed the pair their respective orders as she pretended to clean some already dry glasses whilst keeping a close watch on the two. The barmaid had to restrain herself from letting out a squeal of some sort when she noticed the two picking up their glasses. _Come on you two, just a little closer,_ she urged silently whilst Cana and Lucy watched from afar. Cana was looking impatient since the two were wrapped up in an unknown conversation while Lucy looked downright terrified. What if something bad happened? Her novelist mind had already created some sort of out of this world plot twist that she couldn't help but believe in.

"What do iced coffees taste like Gray?" The scarlet haired mage asked before Gray took a sip.

Gray paused as he removed the cup from his lips, causing Mira to silently groan. He turned to Erza with a pensive look as he held up the cup in front of him. "Why don't you try it for yourself?" He suggested, offering her the drink. Erza took it without question, holding the cup to her lips and taking a sip. Mira and Lucy watched in slight horror whilst Cana kept her impassive face.

Erza removed the glass from her lips as she looked at the drink with a calculative stare, trying to organise her thoughts on the drink. The ice mage beside her watched her expectantly as she turned to him with an unreadable expression. "It's sweet," she finally concluded.

He raised an eyebrow. "How sweet?"

She shrugged. "I don't know exactly. Are iced coffees supposed to taste this sweet?"

Gray's brows furrowed as he digested her response. His iced coffees were always a little sweet, though the way Erza had responded worried him quite a bit. "Let me try then," he proposed as the scarlet haired mage handed him the drink.

He took a light sip of the iced coffee, his taste buds tingling with a very sweet and fruity yet strangely familiar taste. "It tastes kinda different to be honest. My iced coffees aren't usually fruity," he replied to the mage who had been watching him with an anticipative expression.

"Can I have it then?" She suddenly asked, with the ice mage blankly handing over the glass. Without haste, Erza was able to instantaneously down the whole drink, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. Even though it tasted insanely sweet, she found the taste to be quite addictive and she couldn't help but want more of it.

As Erza was about to comment on the drink once more, she suddenly felt quite dizzy, her head spinning out of control. Her eyes began to haze as she let out a loud burp, startling the ice mage beside her who had been watching in slight surprise. Gray raised an eyebrow when he watched the girl suddenly place her head on the bar counter as if she were feeling ill. Worried for the girl, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to which she instantaneously responded with a sharp whack.

He retreated his hand in pain as he glared at the girl in anger. "What the hell was that for Erza?" He asked, keeping his voice steady as he massaged the now reddened hand.

This seemed to have caused Erza to snap as she suddenly stood up, almost flinging the stool she was sitting on away. She slammed two palms on the counter before she whipped her head into Gray's direction, her face furiously red. Gray watched uneasily as she continued to glare lethally at him, her glares almost piercing through him. "Give me more iced coffee!" She roared before throwing the empty glass into his direction.

He managed to dodge the incoming glass, watching it crash onto the floor and break into a million pieces. Gray inwardly cursed to himself before turning back to face the angered requip mage in slight bewilderment. "I don't have any more," he replied calmly, hoping that this wouldn't anger her even more.

"Then _get_ more!" She barked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Not knowing what to do in this situation, Gray began to perspire. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Mira was clearly not at the bar counter for some reason, which meant that he had to either distract her, make her iced coffee or buy her one from outside. "Don't you want strawberry cheesecake instead?"

He offered the girl the half eaten cake slice, hoping this would calm her. However instead of accepting the cake in a normal Erza like fashion, she threw the plate away, the cake splattering on the ground and the plate breaking into a million pieces. Gray stood speechlessly as he stared at the ruined cake blankly. Did _Erza_ just do _that_?

"I want iced coffee!" She hollered, throwing a glass at him. He managed to dodge for a second time, catching the bottle so that it wouldn't break. This small action seemed to have spurred on her blazing anger as the entire guild felt the smouldering aura emanate from the scarlet haired mage in flames. She was beyond angry now as her glare directed at Gray intensified tenfold.

"How dare you catch the glass!" She yelled before beginning to throw an array of glasses at him, Gray looking onward in terror. Unable to think of anything else, he froze the glasses in midair, successfully stopping the raid. Erza seethed, requipping a sword in fury.

She sliced through the ice furiously as if it were an evil monster before pointing her sword at Gray's throat in a threatening manner. He gulped as more perspiration began building up on his forehead. He was at a loss as to how he should overcome his problematic situation. Getting a sword pointed at you by Erza was never a good thing, especially when you knew that she could actually carry out her threats. "Give me an iced coffee," she growled lowly, once again demanding for her cold drink.

"Ask Natsu. He should have one," he blurted out without thinking when he felt the cold tip of her magic sword press into the skin of his throat. Erza retracted her sword almost immediately as she whipped her head around to face the rest of the guild who had been watching in complete silence. When they had heard all the commotion going on at the bar, it was only natural that they would watch.

Her hazel eyes scanned the area before they landed on a languid iron dragon slayer who had been watching the entire scene in boredom. Finding who she was looking for, Erza made haste as she quickly marched toward where Gajeel was sitting with his black Exceed. Gajeel looked up at her in confusion as she stared down at him with her sword still in tow. "Natsu, give me an iced coffee," she demanded authoritatively before Gajeel narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't have your damned iced coffee. And I'm not that pink haired flame idiot you're looking for," he replied gruffly, crossing his arms. She clenched her jaw as her eyes blazed once more in ire.

"Give me my iced coffee Natsu!" She insisted, ignoring his reply. Gajeel grumbled in irritation at the stubborn mage, inwardly cursing to himself. How could she mix him up with the flaming idiot? She must've drunk quite a bit of alcohol.

Gajeel leaned to his side, looking past Erza who was blocking his vision, in order to get a better view of the ice mage who had brought such a calamity onto him. Gray was watching in silent amusement, relieved that he had managed to live a day longer. "Oi ice bastard! Get your girlfriend away from me!"

A tinge of pink flushed Gray's cheeks as he adamantly replied, "She's not my girlfriend!" Mira squealed silently to herself when she noticed the boy blushing.

The dragon slayer rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just get her away from me."

Gray shook his head before smirking at him. "She's your problem now Gajeel."

He growled, "You're going to pay for this stripper."

Erza watched the entire exchange blankly before coming back to her senses. She pointed her sword at Gajeel's throat, glaring menacingly at him. "I said to give me an iced coffee!"

He sighed in annoyance. "For the last time, I don't have your damned iced coffee!"

At his words, Erza's head snapped back into the direction of a now sweating Gray and she gave him a hard stare. "You liar! Where are you keeping all the iced coffees? Tell me!"

Next thing the whole guild knew, a bruised and battered Gray lay on the ground as a persistent Erza raided the bar, searching for her beloved iced coffees. Lucy turned her head to face a pouting Mirajane.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea." Lucy remarked but Mira shook her head.

"There's always Plan B!" She announced cheerfully.

Lucy slapped a hand to her forehead.

* * *

**PLAN A: FAILURE**


	3. Plan B

**PLAN B: BABYSITTING**

* * *

She couldn't believe her ears when she first heard their request. It was just so out of the blue and it seemed so highly suspicious that the blonde couldn't help but turn to the grinning barmaid beside her who was also watching the aforementioned scene play out.

"I can't believe you got Alzack and Bisca to help us," her incredulous voice sounded as she stared at Mirajane in disbelief.

"It wasn't that difficult Lucy. Those two were looking for a babysitter anyways and I decided to take advantage of the situation," she explained, nodding toward the group of four sitting on a bench.

Gray, Erza, Alzack and Bisca were discussing the babysitting plans for the night after the two parents specifically asked for their help. "So you'll do it Erza, Gray?" Alzack asked, watching the pair before him share a glance.

He glanced at Bisca who gave him a wink as he turned back to hear the pair's response. "It'll be our pleasure," Erza answered earnestly, a smile gracing her lips.

Gray nodded along. "Yeah, we'd be happy to help you guys."

Alzack and Bisca smiled gratefully at the two, pleased that they manage to convince them. One of the main reasons why they decided to help Mirajane in the first place was because they too could see the potential in the pair. After taking so long to finally confess their obvious feelings for each other, Alzack and Bisca wanted to help their guild mates by making sure they wouldn't commit their same mistake. If they didn't do anything now, there was a high chance someone else would sweep the other off their feet.

"We'll be back at around 8 in the evening," Bisca added as they began to stand up.

They nodded. "It's fine really. You guys don't have to come home so early. Me and Erza will take care of everything," Gray responded.

Alzack shook his head. "It's not necessary Gray. We'll be back at 8," he reaffirmed before waving the two off as he and Bisca went to report to Mira and Lucy.

"Don't you think it's a little too obvious, asking for Gray and Erza specifically like that? What if someone else wanted to tag along? And what happened to Juvia?" Lucy began bombarding the barmaid with questions after seeing the plan play out. She was worried, to say the least. Mira wasn't exactly doing a good job of matchmaking 'behind the shadows'. At the rate they were going, it was only a matter of time until the two mages knew what was going on. Erza and Gray were fairly intuitive after all. If it had been another couple, working so blatantly wouldn't have been suspicious at all but those two were another story. Who's to say that they don't already know?

Mira hummed nonchalantly in response. She wasn't really worried about anything. She knew that this time, she'd finally be able to get those two lovebirds together. "Stop worrying Lucy. Everything's going to work out fine. It doesn't matter that it was done so blatantly, we got the job done didn't we? Besides, anyone who would've wanted to tag along are all busy today."

Lucy narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What do you mean they're all _busy_?"

* * *

"I think we're walking around in circles," Natsu commented when he found himself passing by the same fork tree thrice in a row.

Gajeel rolled his eyes as he walked past the dragon slayer, an irritated sigh escaping his lips. "Way to state the obvious fire breathing idiot."

Natsu glared at him, "What'd you say iron bastard? Are you trying to start something?"

"You heard me flame idiot. You're an idiot for stating the obvious," he retaliated before another screaming match occurred.

Levy and Lisanna sighed to themselves after hearing their argument, the urge to slap themselves on the forehead continually growing stronger. Why they decided to come on this treasure hunt in the first place, they'd never know.

"Juvia wants to go back to Fairy Tail with Gray-sama," a blue haired mage complained in the background as the group of five continued their wild goose chase.

* * *

"Oh nothing. They're all on job requests or something," she replied, voice especially saccharine.

Lucy continued staring at the mage in skepticism but said nothing of it as Alzack and Bisca joined them at the bar.

"Mission success," Alzack announced in pride, taking a seat on a bar stool.

Bisca nodded in agreement. "It was a lot easier than we expected. I thought we'd have to bribe Erza or something before she agreed."

Mira shook her head. "Erza doesn't look like it but she's quite good with kids. Since she's always wanted children, she would've taken any chance that allowed her to hone her motherly skills. And Gray wouldn't be so mean as to reject a request given to him by someone in the guild. Plus, Erza's doing it so there's more reason why he wouldn't decline."

The Celestial wizard raised an amazed eyebrow. "Wow Mira. You've really got everything planned out."

She grinned. "Of course. Which is why everything should go as planned."

"Oh yeah Mira, we took your advice and told Asuka beforehand to act like a bit of a troublemaker and give them a hard time," Alzack interjected, bringing the subject back to the plan.

Mira looked pleased while Lucy was downright confused. "Why would you do that for?" She asked in puzzlement.

"Babysitting troublesome children is always the key to getting a couple together. It requires them to talk more and having to work as a team to take care of the child. In the process, they get closer and get to see how one would rate as a parent," Mira explained carefully.

Lucy digested the information greedily, nodding to show that she had understood. It was truly amazing to see Mirajane the Matchmaker at work. She turned into a completely different person when she wasn't acting so happy and sweet all the time.

Mira turned to the married couple and flashed them a grateful smile. "Thanks for all your help Alzack, Bisca. We couldn't have done it without you."

Bisca shook her head. "It's fine Mira. We were happy to help, but you shouldn't thank us so early. It's up to Asuka now."

* * *

Sometimes Asuka listened to her parents a little _too_ well. She was only supposed to cause a little trouble for her two babysitters, but she ended up going a little overboard, though as a little girl at the ripe age of five, it was a given that she didn't understand that. When she had arrived at Gray's house for the night, she was greeted by a smiling Erza and a rather awkward smiling Gray. She had smiled right back at them, deciding to greet them in her usual cheery tone and act a little good for a while before doing what her parents told her.

Her daddy had told her that if either Gray or Erza told her to do something, she shouldn't listen to some of their requests. She was to do the opposite of what they said so that it would get them working more like a team. She also had to try and make them do what she wanted, though she shouldn't make them do anything too difficult. Asuka was only five, but she knew exactly how to complete her task.

After all, this situation had begun to remind her of that one time when Natsu, Lucy and Happy were looking after her. She didn't understand it all, but she could see that Natsu and Lucy liked each other. Asuka had guessed that this was the same thing with Gray and Erza and that her mummy and daddy wanted her to help them become a couple. Being the good girl she was, Asuka just had to obey. Besides, it looked kind of fun, messing around with Gray and Erza like that.

And that was how phase one of her award winning performance commenced.

"Do you want anything to drink Asuka?" Erza asked the girl, her voice becoming much kinder and gentler than she had ever heard it before. She shook her head, "I'm not thirsty."

"How about something to eat?" She persisted but Asuka continued to shake her head, declining any offers Erza tried to make.

The three had elapsed into an awkward silence after that. Unlike with Natsu and Lucy, Gray and Erza were more serious and logical, which was why Asuka found it such a hard time trying to think of what to do. There was no Natsu to do stupid things and there was no Lucy to scold him for it. Instead there was a cool Gray and a stern Erza, two factors she wasn't very used to. As her eyes lingered around the contents of Gray's living room, her eyes spotted something in the corner which gave her an idea.

"What's that?" She asked curiously, pointing to the ice figurine on one of Gray's shelves. The two looked into the direction of her finger, finally spotting the object she was point at.

Gray turned to her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's an ice figurine I made. Do you want me to make one of you?"

She thought to herself for a moment before nodding enthusiastically, moving to Gray's side as he bent down next to her. Erza decided to watch also, standing behind Asuka as Gray placed his fist and his palm together. He compressed the two, willing some ice magic to form an Asuka figurine. When he removed his fist, the two girls found themselves looking at a miniature ice version of Asuka. The girl's eyes widened in amazement as she reached to take it between her palms, holding it as carefully as possible.

The two adults watched the girl take a closer look at Gray's creation, a proud smile making its way onto his face. "Will it melt?" Asuka asked the ice mage after analysing every final detail.

He shook his head. "I made it out of a special ice that won't melt normally. If you use Natsu's fire to melt it though, it will melt so keep it away from Natsu," he warned lightheartedly, cracking a grin.

Asuka nodded as she digested his information. If Gray could make something like this, then what else could he make? "Can you make a gun?"

He cocked his head to the side. "A gun? What for?"

"I want to use an ice gun," she replied pertly.

Gray and Erza shared a look communicating their thoughts. _Make it a toy gun_, she communicated sternly. _Fine_, he replied back with an eye roll before placing his hands in the ice make position. He willed a toy gun to form between his palms, imagining its finer details in his mind before he pulled away, a toy gun made of ice now sitting in his palms. Before he could even ask whether the girl liked it or not, the young Connell immediately removed the gun from his grasp, placing her finger through the trigger guard.

She pointed the gun at a picture frame sitting on the shelf, aiming the bullet to hit the centre of the glass. Asuka closed an eye as she pulled the trigger, not noticing how her babysitters watched her in horror. When she pulled, she expected to feel a bullet being shot out from the gun hole and the said bullet hitting directly on its target. However contrary to her expectations no bullet came out, instead two relieved sighs in its place.

Gray knelt down next to her, placing a hand on the gun as he gently pushed her hand down. Asuka looked at him, her purple eyes beginning to water as she discreetly widened them, her aim being to play the guilt trip. It seemed that it worked as she noticed how Gray's original stern expression softened slightly. "Why aren't there bullets?"

"Because it's not safe for a little girl to be shooting guns like that," he answered kindly, hoping the girl would understand.

Asuka frowned at him, her eyebrows crinkling together in disapproval. "But mommy and daddy _always_ let me shoot around the house," came her earnest reply, her expression still schooled in one of innocence.

Gray seemed to be stuck for words as his mind's wheels began turning, trying to find a suitable answer in order to counteract the girl. She was slyer than she looked, he realised belatedly. Erza, who had been watching the scene from behind, had realised the tight spot Asuka had put the ice mage in and decided to step in, hopefully trying to voice their side of the issue across.

"Even so, it's still not safe to be shooting a real gun. We may not be your parents, but we're asking that you please listen to us," Erza responded with a motherly tone. Gray looked at her in shock, having never heard this tone of voice from her before. He had never really realised how motherly the girl could be underneath her tough and scary exterior.

Tears began to well in Asuka's eyes as she refused to listen to their words, adamant on wanting a real gun. "I just wanted to play with an ice gun," she said to them, her mouth beginning to quiver as a sign of oncoming tears.

Gray jumped back slightly, uncomfortable with seeing girls cry. Ever since that day he found Erza on the river bank and had seen her crying, Gray had realised how much he hated seeing girls cry yet found that he was unable to do anything about it. He didn't know what to do or say and felt that whatever he did would only make the situation worse. He turned to the requip mage beside him in desperation, hoping she would take the reins again.

Erza seemed to have taken the girl's response better than he did though he could see the serious look of contemplation upon her face, her mind probably running a thousand miles an hour as she tried reaching a suitable conclusions. Asuka had noticed her indecisiveness and decided to let a tear flow, hoping it would speed up her cognition.

It seemed to have worked as not yet a second later, Erza came replying with a stern, "Gray, make her a usable ice gun!"

Not wanting to anger the girl, Gray did as he was told, creating another gun made of ice but this time, the gun was actually loaded with bullets, though he had made sure to keep them pretty blunt. Asuka's face brightened immediately as she took the gun from Gray's hands eagerly, beginning to point at the picture frame again. Without a second to waste, she pulled the trigger, happy to find a bullet being released from the gun.

The ice bullet hit the picture frame directly in the glass' centre, causing the frame to fall off the shelf. The frame fell onto the floor with a loud crash, several pieces of glass being thrown in different directions. Gray was able to reflexively move Asuka away from the damaged frame, keeping her safe from the flying glass as Erza immediately went to find a dustpan.

He sighed when he realised that she was not hurt before looking at the mess that Asuka had created. Well, at least now he didn't have to worry about making up an excuse for throwing the atrocious picture frame away. He never did like it in the first place.

Gray turned back to face Asuka in order to give her a light scolding when he realised that the girl had disappeared. His brows furrowed as his eyes shifted into different directions, trying to catch sight of the dark green haired five year old. Unfortunately, Gray found nothing as he cursed inwardly to himself, thinking of the consequences he might have to face if Erza found out that he lost Asuka. Just thinking about what she would do to him was enough to motivate him into looking for the girl as soon as possible, well before Erza got back with the dustpan to be exact.

"Asuka," he half whispered and half shouted, keeping his voice purposely low in order to not capture the attention of his redheaded teammate. Gray moved around the living room, looking beside his couch, underneath his coffee table and any place small enough to hide a five year old girl.

"Asuka," he called out again, moving into the next room when he found that the living room was empty. Where could that girl gone off to? He asked himself inwardly, moving around to continue his search. Gray knew he shouldn't have gotten such a big house from the very beginning. After all, why need a three bedroom house when he was the only one even living there in the first place? But he blamed the outer influences for eventually corrupting his young mind. It was their fault he was now having such a hard time looking for the little girl.

A loud bang and a few more crashes that came from the room next to him alerted him of her presence. He instantly reacted by running into the direction of the noise, appalled to find his bedroom in a disarray. One of his walls had a large hole in it and the things on his night table, mainly his lamp and a mug, were now scattered on the floor, having been broken into smithereens. His closet door also seemed to be sporting a similar hole, Gray now able to see the sleeve of his white coat inside. His black eyes landed on the innocent looking Asuka Connell who was standing in the centre of the room with her head bowed down, her eyes looking at the gun in her hands.

Gray wanted nothing more than to wring the girl's head at that moment but knew that he couldn't, not if wanted an angry Erza, Alzack, Bisca and Fairy Tail guild after him for doing something so inhumane. Instead of doing anything violent, Gray opted to staring sternly at the girl, his face schooled into one of indifference.

As a condescending lecture was about to escape the ice mage's lips, an annoyed and worried Erza came marching into the room, an empty dustpan in hand. "I was looking all over for you two. When I came back to find you gone, I didn't know where to look. You should've told me that the dust pan was in the–"

A honey coloured eye took one look at the shambled state of her teammate's bedroom before words came tumbling out in utter bewilderment. "What happened here Gray? Is this why I heard a loud banging noise?"

He nodded silently before motioning to the girl standing in the centre of the room who was still looking down at her gun. "Asuka did it," he immediately blamed, not noticing how the said girl discreetly glared at the older male.

"Asuka..._what?_" Erza sputtered out, looking at the child questioningly.

She decided to transition into stage two of her award winning performance.

Asuka finally looked up at the redhead, a hurt expression spread across her face. She quivered her lips and willed tears to well at the bottom of her eyes as she pointed a small finger into Gray's direction. "It was Gray's fault! He wanted to steal my gun and he accidentally pulled the trigger when he tried snatching it from me," came her tearful explanation, trying to appear as the victim in the situation.

Gray nodded, at first not comprehending her exact words. "Yeah, it was– wait what?"

He realised too late as to what the girl was trying to say as he felt a frightening aura erupt beside him, feelings of fear and dread forming in the pit of his stomach as he hesitated to look at the female beside him. Risking a peek, Gray found himself looking at the devil. Eyes narrowed and face scrunched in fury, the girl was truly a monster as she stared at him with a frightening gaze.

"You did _what?_" She gritted out, her fists clenching to vent out her anger.

He backed away from the girl, large amounts of perspiration suddenly forming on the top of his forehead. "She's lying! I didn't even do anything!" He tried defending, desperately hoping his voice didn't seem a pitch higher than usual.

Erza ignored his protests as she took an intimidating step forward, Gray having the urge to suddenly wet his pants. "Now you're blaming Asuka?" She spat out in disapproval, her fist clenching tighter.

He gulped. "But it wasn't me Erza! Promise! And why are _you_ the one getting angry? It's _my_ room that's destroyed!"

She stepped back for a moment, seemingly cooling down for a short while. "That's true, but it's your fault that you pulled the trigger."

"But I didn't pull the trigger! Hell I've never even touched the gun before!"

"You touched it when you created it you idiot!" Erza retorted, crossing her arms this time with her previous anger forgotten.

He gritted his teeth in irritation. "That's besides the point Erza. The point is is that I never pulled the trigger, nor did I do anything else Asuka accused me of."

She scoffed in disbelief. "Accuse you of? Asuka's only five! She wouldn't make such ridiculous accusations, isn't that right Asuka?"

Asuka blankly nodded, staring at the two's squabble with a bewildered look on her face. She didn't understand how blaming Gray ended up turning into a quarrel between Gray and Erza. All she knew was that she needed to do something after remembering her true mission, otherwise she would disappoint her mommy and daddy.

"You two should kiss," the girl announced suddenly, stopping the adults in their squabbling session. Both babysitters turned to the young Connell with a shocked expression on their faces, eyes both dilated and mouths agape.

"Huh?" They uttered in unison.

Asuka nodded. She had learnt that the best way her mommy and daddy always solved their fights was through a kiss. When mommy and daddy kissed, they became happy again which was why Asuka assumed that if Gray and Erza kissed they'd be happy again also.

"You should kiss. It will make you happy right?" She innocently asked, not realising the situation.

Both adults seemed stunned for words, both unable to respond with coherent answers. The only thing running through their minds was Asuka's words which had been repeating themselves like broken records. Kiss? Happy? Well–

The door bell rang at that exact moment, having saved the both of them by the bell. Rather enthusiastically, Gray and Erza ran to the front door to greet a smiling Alzack and Bisca. They looked at the babysitters expectantly, inwardly hoping that something had happened between the two of them while they were gone.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Asuka's excited shouts were heard around the house as the little girl ran out the front door into the welcoming arms of her green haired mother. Bisca wrapped loving arms around her daughter, picking her up and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks a lot Gray, Erza. We hope that Asuka wasn't too much trouble," Alzack said.

Gray and Erza shared a knowing look. "No, no, it's fine, she was an angel," Erza insisted, a tight lipped smile forming on her face.

"Well that's good to hear. We'll see you guys again soon! Thanks again!" Bisca called as the family of three made their way to leave. Gray and Erza bade them farewell with happy waves, closing the door with a sigh of relief.

As soon as they were out of hearing range, Alzack and Bisca turned to their daughter with an expectant gaze. "So did anything happen?"

Asuka shook her head. "They were going to kiss but mommy and daddy came so they stopped," she explained leaving Alzack and Bisca sighing in disappointment.

"I don't think Lucy would be happy to hear that Plan C will end up taking place," Bisca commented as the trio continued their way home. Alzack hummed in agreement, anyone could see how exasperated the blonde was with Mira's plans.

On the other side of town, a certain blonde sneezed as she made her way to bed. "That's strange. I don't remember my bed being dusty," she remarked before shrugging the sneeze off with a yawn.

"All this stuff with Mira is really taking a toll on my body."

* * *

**PLAN B: FAILURE**


	4. Plan C

**PLAN C: CAKE**

* * *

"The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach!" Mira had exclaimed to her happily when she gave her a rundown of her newest plan.

Lucy had been crestfallen when she heard of Plan B's failure, not because Gray and Erza were still not together, but because she was still going to have to stick with Mira's outrageous plans. She truly did wonder why she had forced this situation onto herself. Why couldn't she just have kept her mouth shut and not told Mira anything? At least then, she wouldn't have to be forced to take part in rather nonsensical plans.

"But Erza's not a man," she retaliated.

"Erza's more of a man than anyone else in the guild," Elfman responded, backing up his sister.

She sighed. Honestly, she didn't even know how Mira got her brother to participate in these plans but she did. Maybe she had threatened him or something; it seemed plausible considering that it was Mira and all. So now she was stuck with two overly enthusiastic Strauss siblings, and she praised the heavens that Lisanna wasn't there to join them. Lucy didn't have anything against Lisanna, it was just that when all three Strauss siblings joined together for a common cause they were unstoppable.

Mira hummed in agreement. "The phrase relates to Erza too doesn't it? The quickest way to Erza's heart is through cake!"

"Now you're just taking shortcuts," Lucy muttered to herself as she watched the two siblings helplessly.

No sooner after she had said that, a certain ice mage came strolling into the guild with his shirt gone as always. A certain water mage squealed in delight as soon as she saw the object of her affections, causing the three to turn to Gray's direction where they saw him helplessly trying to push Juvia away from hugging him. Lucy saw from the corner of her eye the Strauss siblings giving each other a devious wink before Mira nodded for Elfman to make his move. She inwardly sighed, this was definitely going to give away their schemes, not that Mira even did a good job of hiding them. Practically half the guild knew, except well the most obvious two and a few others who were either too enticed on getting one of them for themselves, or didn't really care.

The blonde watched as Elfman marched up to Gray before practically hauling him over his shoulder like a potato sack, bringing him outside just as quickly as he had carried him. No one noticed the strange occurrence except for Juvia (who was too wide eyed to speak), a smug Mira and an exasperated Lucy.

Gray on the other hand was too shocked for words as the large takeover mage began carrying him to who knows where. It was uncomfortable. Usually girls would be carried like this by a guy or something but his situation was a lot different and much worse. It wasn't just everyday you saw a grown man, particularly Gray, being hauled by Elfman after all.

"What the hell are you doing Elfman? Put me down man!" Gray shouted in annoyance, trying to figure out a way to get off his shoulder without harming the mage. Elfman was his friend after all. He wasn't someone who would just easily beat up his friends, well except for Natsu but Natsu was a different case so he didn't count.

Elfman continued walking, ignoring Gray's shouts. He was surprised at how light Gray was. Considering his muscular body which he had no problem showing off, it was particularly surprising to see how much the ice mage actually weighed. He felt as though he were carrying a slightly lighter version of his older sister. If Gray was this light, he was curious as to how light Natsu would be.

"If you're a real man, you'd shut up and let me carry you," he finally responded, Gray grumbling at his usual man preaching, as he liked to dub it. Even in times like these he was _still_ going on about being a 'real' man.

But Gray, being the man he so graciously was, heeded Elfman's words, instead opting to inwardly curse at the man instead as he laid limply on the mage's broad shoulders. Wherever Elfman was taking him, he was sure that it wouldn't be anywhere good.

* * *

Gray was spot on with his prediction of course. Having been acquainted for more than half of his life with the Fairy Tail guild, he had come to expect the craziest and most ridiculous practices they had to offer, which was why he was not surprised when he found himself suddenly being thrust into a ridiculous situation.

Elfman had brought him over to the Strauss home, a place he hadn't been to in ages. Being siblings and all, Mira, Elfman and Lisanna lived in a house of their own, rather than Mira and Lisanna living in Fairy Hills and Elfman living by himself. After all the time they had missed with Lisanna disappearing in Edolas, they took every chance they could to stay together.

As soon as they entered the Strauss abode, Elfman literally dropped him on the hard ground, causing Gray to groan in pain after his fanny hit the floor first. He had trouble sitting up, his hand going down to massage his backside as he glared at the beast takeover mage towering over him. "What the fuck Elfman?" He shouted angrily, still trying to sooth the pain coming from his bottom.

"I apologise for Elf-niichan's actions Gray," a voice replied from the hallway, causing both males to turn their heads simultaneously toward the source. They were greeted with the gentle smile of one Lisanna Strauss who was watching the two with an amused twinkle in her eye. Her smile got wider when she noticed Gray's stunned reaction as she walked toward the both of them casually, not leaving any room for Gray to arouse some suspicions.

"Uh, it's fine Lisanna. You really don't have to apologise," Gray stated awkwardly after realising he had not yet spoken. He was still sitting on the ground, the pain in his behind slowly subsiding as he massaged it.

Lisanna held out a hand for Gray to take after seeing him still on the floor. He took her hand gratefully, pushing himself up before almost wincing at the sudden sharp sensation that shot through his spine. Elfman, who had caught this, placed a hand on Gray's shoulder in guilt. "Sorry about that Gray. I didn't mean to drop you onto the floor," he apologised sincerely.

"Really, it's fine," he replied curtly, making his way over to the couch so that he could finally rest comfortably. Their couch was surprisingly fluffy that it felt as though he were sitting on a cloud. It seemed to do wonders on his bottom because as far as he could tell, the pain had fully subsided after sitting down.

"So uh, why am I here?" Gray decided to bring up the topic after making himself comfortable on the couch. He stared expectantly at the two Strauss siblings who were now communicating with their eyes in a rather anxious exchange. It made the ice mage all the more curious on their answer.

Gray watched as Elfman suddenly left the room, leaving him all alone in the living room with Lisanna. She turned to him, her gaze turning uncharacteristically stern. It reminded him a lot of Erza when she was ready to get down to business. To see the same expression on Lisanna didn't seem to process well in his mind. It was just plain weird seeing that look on her face, which was probably why he had a gnawing feeling that something bad was going to happen.

And something bad did happen when Lisanna decided to speak. "You're going to wear this outfit and you won't complain about it," she announced as Elfman came back into the living room with what was supposed to be his outfit in his hands.

Gray stared blankly at the clothes in Elfman's grasp, his mind malfunctioning completely. "Uh, what?" He blurted, still in an uncomprehending daze.

Lisanna took the clothes from her older brother's grasp before tossing them onto Gray's lap, her eyes still shooting him a stern look. "Put them on," she ordered in an Erza-like fashion that Gray couldn't help but oblige. Anyone who could pull off an 'Erza order' could easily manipulate him to do whatever they wanted. It was pathetic but it was a habitual thing; obeying Erza's orders had become second nature to the ice mage, unless he disagreed completely and decided to rebel but that happened only once in a blue moon.

He was about to put his arm through one of the arm holes of the shirt when he finally took a good look at the piece of clothing in his hands, his arm pausing abruptly. It was a dark blue shirt he noted, and had matching blue pants as well as a blue cap to finish the outfit. His brows furrowed at the ordinariness of the clothing; why had Elfman and Lisanna gone through all that trouble to bring him to their house in order for him to wear these three pieces of clothing? It didn't make sense; coming from experience, he had learnt that there was _always_ a hidden intent when it came to the Strauss siblings, always.

Gray decided to twist the shirt around so that he was able to see if anything was written on the front and something sure was. Placed on the right chest area of the shirt was a clear logo, one that was all too familiar to him. It was only then that he had been able to put two and two together. His dark blue eyes widened substantially as he snapped his head to look at the Strauss siblings who were observing him, a look of surprise and defiance burning in his eyes.

"What the hell? Why are you making me put on a _Piece of Cake_ delivery man uniform?" He exclaimed incredulously, shaking the pieces of clothing in his hands. Elfman and Lisanna shared a look before Lisanna decided to smoothly lie. She needed to get him to wear that uniform whether he liked it or not. Mira-nee was counting on her, she had reminded herself determinedly.

"We were given a job request by Mira-nee to become delivery men for Piece of Cake for a day. However, since this was the only uniform given to us and neither of us could fit it, we opted to ask you for help instead," the youngest Strauss lied smoothly, her facial features carefully contorted into one of innocence.

Gray scanned her face carefully, searching for any lies. When he could not find any traces of dishonesty, he sighed to himself. He was still suspicious however, but he guessed that her answer seemed logical enough. But still, he had to at least get some more information out of her. He didn't like it when he had more questions than he had answers.

"If that's the case, you could've just asked me instead of hauling me over here. I would've accepted anyway," he pointed out earnestly.

Lisanna looked sheepish. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess we didn't want Juvia finding out because she'd definitely try tagging along when the job request specifically asked for _one_ mage, so I guess you can thank us for hauling you over here instead?" She lied unsurely, spouting out whatever came to mind. It appeared that the fib had won him over for he had flashed the two a grateful smile in relief.

"Ah well thanks for that. I've had enough Juvia for one day," he sighed. It was true; earlier that morning the said water mage had been extra clingy toward him, something that made him uncomfortable. It wasn't that he disliked her or anything, he just didn't like her in that way. Whatever he felt for her was strictly platonic, especially since he had had someone else in his heart for the longest time now.

Elfman shot his little sister a rather surprised and amazed look. He never knew that the girl could lie so well, especially because she was always so honest and never seemed like she'd do anything of the bad sort. Maybe her time in Edolas had taught her a few more things.

"So you'll wear the uniform?" Lisanna asked rather eagerly, hoping he would say yes. If his reaction hadn't told her that she'd won him over, she didn't know what would.

Gray scratched the back of his neck as he stared intently at the clothes in his grasp. He wanted to help his friends but at the same time, he really didn't want to wear the uniform. It looked kinda tacky, and he would never be able to live it down if Natsu ever caught sight of him wearing something that made him look like a cheap loser. "Yeah about that, can I just do the request without wearing the clothes?" He tried bargaining, hoping they would accept.

Lisanna frowned. "Why would you do that? The job request specifically stated that you had to wear the clothes," she answered rather forcefully.

"But I don't like these clothes. I don't get why they'd ask for me to wear this specifically. Why can't I just wear what I normally wear?" He complained childishly.

"You don't even _wear_ anything," Lisanna muttered under her breath.

Elfman decided to interject after seeing how they weren't getting anywhere. "If you're a real man, you'd follow what the job request asked and wear the clothes."

The ice mage shot him an irritated glare. "But–"

Before he could continue, Lisanna cut him off with a glare of her own. "Wear the clothes Gray, or we'll have to force it on you," she threatened, looking a lot like Mira did in her younger years.

Gray gulped but he decided not to back down. He didn't want to wear the stupid clothes for the life of him. "No. I don't c–"

It was then that Gray realised his big mistake. He had learnt after that horrible, _horrible_ experience to never mess with the Strauss siblings. If you wanted to live life peacefully without having to go through some nasty things, you had to obey the words that any Strauss gave you.

* * *

Gray had eventually worn the darned uniform after Elfman and Lisanna forced it onto him with methods he'd rather not relive. And soon after that small accomplishment, the ice mage found himself being tightly blindfolded by Lisanna and hauled over the shoulder of known other than Elfman. He groaned when he realised that he was being manhandled again before relaxing his body so that he laid limp the whole way.

It felt like decades when Elfman had finally stopped, arriving at their destination. Gray couldn't see a thing out of the blindfold so he didn't know exactly where they had gone but judging from the way he seemed to elevate higher, Gray guessed that they were climbing up some stairs. He had his ears pealed out for anything that gave their destination away but nothing seemed to ring a bell. All he heard was the squeaking of doors and the sound of footsteps here and there, nothing that would narrow down his guesses.

Finally Elfman stopped in front of something before he literally dropped the ice mage onto the floor again, chasing him to groan in pain as he rubbed his bottom. Even though he was wearing a blindfold, Gray glared at him, a scowl etched onto his face. "You bastard Elfman!" he cursed out, ready to offer some more colourful insults when he suddenly felt a large hand cup over his mouth.

"Shut up Gray. She'll hear you," Elfman hissed, keeping his eye on the door. He didn't want Gray to cause a ruckus so early on in the plan. They hadn't even gotten to the main event yet.

Gray creased his eyebrows as he tried looking at Elfman questionably, but the blindfold was making it hard to convey his emotions through his eyes. _She?_ There was a girl involved? Why the hell was Elfman so insistent on keeping him quiet? She was a customer wasn't she?

He was about to say something when he suddenly found it a little too hard to breathe after he accidentally took a whiff of Elfman's sweaty palm. It smelt of perspiration, really _stinky_ perspiration that the takeover mage would deem as 'manly sweat'.

"Gerrof meeph," he tried shouting but Elfman's hand has his words muffled, causing him to blurt out utter gibberish.

The male Strauss frowned at Gray's words, unable to work out what he was trying to say. "What?" He asked, to which Gray started shouting again, his words muffled.

Sick of trying to get Elfman to try and understand, Gray used some ice magic to slightly freeze Elfman's hand, causing him to let go with a startled jump. The ice mage sighed in relief, breathing in as much fresh air as he could in order to rid himself of the abominable smell of Elfman's sweat. Some things were meant to be shared between guys, and this wasn't one of them.

Elfman glared at the mage as he cradled his slightly frozen hand. "What was the for?" He asked gruffly.

Gray tried glaring back but the stupid blindfold was obscuring his vision so he probably looked like an idiot if he was glaring at something other than Elfman. "Your hand stinks."

"It's the smell of a real man," he replied proudly, to which Gray rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah yeah," he waved him off, "now tell me what I'm doing here."

Realisation dawned on Elfman as he remembered his purpose, looking to his right hand where he was currently holding a large box. Things seemed to click as the takeover mage suddenly thrust the box into the hands of a dumbfounded Gray. "Knock on the door and deliver this to the person inside," Elfman explained hurriedly before running off, leaving Gray behind.

He was confused. What the hell just happened? Elfman didn't even have the courtesy of taking off the damned blindfold. Some man he was, Gray spat out in irritation as he untied the blindfold. The cloth fell down as Gray surveyed his surroundings; he noticed squeaky clean timber flooring as well as numerous doors around the above floor which were all decorated with individual colours. There were vases filled with carnations littered around the area and the whole surrounding seemed to give off a prominent feminine vibe.

Gray's eyes wandered back to the door he was supposed to knock on. It was a mahogany brown which was properly furnished and polished. It looked plain enough but Gray couldn't help but feel like the door seemed pretty familiar to him. He finally lifted himself off the ground after he had realised he was still on the floor when Elfman dropped him, and fixed his clothing, holding the large box in his hands. He knew it was cake given his uniform but he couldn't help but wonder what type of cake.

Shrugging, Gray took a deep breath before lifting a hand to knock on the door. He just had to deliver a box of cake but oddly enough, he felt strangely nervous. Before he could even knock on the door however, the door had immediately swung open, revealing a slender woman who had luscious red locks for hair.

Gray felt as though the air had been knocked out of his windpipe when he realised who the woman was. It was freaking _Erza_, and he was dressed up as a _delivery man_ who was supposed to deliver her her cake.

She had her hair down but it was surprisingly wavy for a change as it cascaded down her shoulders and behind her back. She was dressed in her usual casual wear, being a blue pleated skirt and white blouse but even so, he found her to be stunningly attractive in that moment. Perhaps it was because she was standing in her own home which made her look enticing.

Her honey eyes widened for a moment when she realised who was standing behind her door. "Gray? What are you doing here?" She asked curiously when she took note of his clothes. A Piece of Cake delivery uniform huh? She wondered where he had gotten it.

"Uh, I'm here to deliver you this cake," he replied nervously after realising he had not yet said anything. Gray thrust the cake box into her hands, unaware of the confusion that graced her features.

She accepted the box unsurely, lifting her eyes to meet Gray's when she was now carrying the box. "But I didn't order any cake Gray," Erza pointed out uncertainly.

Gray raised an eyebrow in astonishment, suddenly perplexed. "You _didn't_?" He repeated, his voice unsettled.

The redhead nodded. "I'm sure I didn't. I always order my Piece of Cake cakes in person rather than call for a delivery," she explained, hugging the cake box close to her. It was still cake, though she was hoping it was strawberry cheesecake.

He scratched the back of his neck in befuddlement, his mind going into overdrive as he tried to properly comprehend the situation that had been thrust upon him. So she didn't order the cake? And he just delivered her the cake because Elfman told him he had to. What on Earthland was going on? Was this whole job request even _real_?

His mind hurt from all the thoughts and questions that kept piling up in his brain. "I uh, I'm sorry then. Maybe I should take the cake back and tell Elfman and Lisanna that they got the address wrong," he finally responded after trying to clear his thoughts. He held his hands out to take the box from Erza but was surprised when he found Erza hugging the box particularly closer to her body.

He cocked his head to the side, confused at the girl's actions. "Erza?" He asked, still holding out his hands.

The redhead shook her head, protectively hugging the box. "I can't let this cake to waste. You came all the way here for my sake after all," she replied.

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Well if you say it like that, maybe I could leave you the cake," he began, to which Erza started to smile. "But it might be someone else's Erza. I have to take it back," he insisted, moving his hands forward to take the cake. Erza immediately reacted, a sword now in her grasp as she pointed it toward Gray's neck as if challenging him to take a step closer.

Gray abruptly paused at the sudden threat, beads of sweat beginning to build up on his forehead. It wasn't the first time he had been a similar situation, being at the receiving end of Erza's sword, but the last time he had, he had rebelled and even though he was able to get his point across, he was still severely punished afterward.

"Not one step closer Gray," she growled, an intense glare directed toward him. He gulped as he tried to stand his ground, ignoring the nervousness he was feeling. Gray stared right back into her eyes, keeping his expression stoic as he placed a hand on Erza's sword, pushing to lower it down.

"I have to take it back," he said calmly, ignoring how Erza pressed the tips of her blade into the base of his neck. He could feel the cool, metallic touch of the blade pushing into his skin that he couldn't help but rethink his actions. Maybe he shouldn't rebel after all. Erza could easily slit his throat if she wanted to and he really wasn't willing to take chances right now.

Erza kept her glare on Gray's composed face. "I won't let you take it. But tell me what flavour it is first," she demanded, lightly pressing the blade deeper into his skin. She was careful not to draw blood however. She wasn't really thinking of injuring him, just trying to threaten him if he disobeyed her. Erza wanted this cake; it came so willingly into her arms that she couldn't let it get away. Though she was more prone to eating only strawberry cheesecakes, it was a cake from Piece of Cake, plus Gray was the one who delivered it to her so she couldn't not take it.

Gray was confused about her sudden inquiry but didn't bother questioning her. He just wanted to get out in one piece after all. "Uh, I'm not sure. I think it's strawberry cheesecake since I gave it to you and all," he guessed unsurely, eyeing the box. Since Elfman and Lisanna were the ones who gave him the cake, he was guessing that it was strawberry cheesecake. They wouldn't have given him the wrong cake on purpose, but they _did_ give him the wrong address though.

The requip mage slowly lowered her sword, but only to check if Gray was telling the truth. Luckily for her, the raven haired male was smart enough not to take the chance to run away, just nervously waiting for her verdict. She slowly opened the lid of the box and was pleasantly surprised as she closed the lid and gave him a bright smile, her eyes twinkling like it was Christmas morning.

Gray guessed from her reaction that he had guessed correctly as he gave a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping after all the tension that had built up in his muscles. "Since it's strawberry cheesecake, there's no way I can give you this back now Gray. Just ask the cake shop owner to get another one. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Erza proposed, her eyes still twinkling. It amazed Gray at how the girl would take a 180 degree personality transformation when it came to her cheesecake. For someone who was so hellbent on sticking to the rules, it was amusing how she wasn't afraid to break them if it involved getting some cake.

"Okay then Erza. I guess I'll do just that," he replied in uncertainty, scratching the back of his neck. As he was about to walk away from the girl, ready to take off the delivery uniform he was surprisingly still wearing, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist tugging him back. He stumbled from the sudden force that pulled him back, quickly regaining his balance when he felt the hand pull away.

Gray turned to look at the redhead in confusion, becoming more flummoxed by the second when he noticed the rather shy look on Erza's face. "Erza?" He asked when he noticed her biting her lip.

Her honey brown eyes moved up to look at him, the ice mage becoming speechless when he found her eyes looking particularly tender. "Do you want some cake? I don't want to make you leave on an empty stomach."

His eyebrows shot upwards at her sudden proposal, his mouth hanging agape as he felt his heart beat getting faster by the second. "S-Sure," he stuttered, a bright smile curving on Erza's lips.

The redhead dragged him inside before shutting the door, an overjoyed Lisanna peeking from behind the corridor wall after hearing the entire conversation. They did it! Mira-nee and Lucy were going to be so happy when she told them of the good news.

As Lisanna practically skipped across the corridor to the front entrance, she didn't hear the loud commotion that was brewing inside Erza's room the moment she dragged him in.

"But you said I could have some Erza!"

"I didn't say you could have _that_ big of a piece Gray!"

"I'm hungry though! You can't keep a man away from filling his stomach you know."

Some knuckles cracked. "And you can't keep a lady from getting her share of the cake either."

"More like you can't keep _Erza_ from getting her cake," came an annoyed mutter.

"What was that?"

Then came a gulp as beads of sweat trailed down a face. "Nothing!"

* * *

**PLAN C: SUCC–FAILURE?**


	5. Plan D

**PLAN D: DANCE**

* * *

Lucy wanted to scream. Apparently Plan C had succeeded, with Lisanna recounting how Erza pulled Gray into her room to share some cake with him and how she was blushing while she was doing so. However contrary to the expected end result with what Lisanna had recounted, the scene should've looked a little something like Gray and Erza holding hands or doing something romantic when they entered the guild, yet it was the exact opposite. Instead of doing what the expected, the two mages looked particularly awkward, well Gray did as he trailed behind Erza with what looked like a broken arm in a sling.

Juvia ended up wailing at the sight of her injured beloved and so not only was Lucy stuck with completing another plan, she was dripping wet due to the flooding of the entire guild hall from the water mage's overwhelming tears. It didn't help that Erza looked like she was trying to urge Gray to comfort the girl, meaning that it would take a lot more ridiculous plans to endure in order to get the two together.

"The only thing that came out of Plan C was Gray's broken arm," Lucy muttered as they watched Juvia cry her heart out.

"At least we got the two closer," Lisanna remarked, pointing toward Gray who was shooting pleading looks toward Erza, whom of which was trying not to laugh at his misfortune. Lucy only raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. It appeared that the two had indeed grown closer, having never seen Erza suppress a giggle like that.

"And that means that the implementation of Plan D will bring them even more closer," Mira exclaimed excitedly, somewhat pleased with the results.

Lucy looked skeptical but said nothing of it. "I guess," she muttered, watching Mira take out another manila folder entitled 'Plan D'.

"So what is this new plan Mira-nee?" Lisanna asked curiously, eyeing the folder in bubbling excitement. It appeared that Lisanna had hopped onto the Gray-Erza matchmaking train, and Lucy had no idea whether to be happy or not. With another Strauss on board, who knows what would happen?

The tips of the barmaid's lips curved upward in what appeared to be a smug smile. "Dance."

* * *

"So what's the new job request Lucy?" the scarlet haired mage had asked when the celestial wizard proffered her a flyer.

The blonde smiled widely at her. "It's not exactly a job request. It's more of an invitation actually," she explained, having been surprised herself when Mira had handed her a flyer on a ball being held at Blue Pegasus. The timing was absolutely impeccable but Lucy had a strong feeling it had to do with Mira's surprising connections with a Sorcerer Magazine model named Jenny. How long ago had they been planning this? Actually scratch that, when did she even find the time to do all this in the first place?

Erza raised an eyebrow in curiosity, eyeing the cream flyer hanging from Lucy's fingertips. "An invitation you say? For what?"

This is where Lucy's acting skills kicked in as she flashed her a blinding smile. "It's for a ball at Blue Pegasus. Apparently they hold one every year and they've decided to invite Fairy Tail to come along," she chirped, her smile growing wider when she noticed Erza's eyes twinkle.

"A ball huh?" she repeated in wonder, Lucy watching as the girl's eyes began to glaze over.

She decided to interject with a very important fact. "You have to bring a partner though. It's a necessary requirement since it's ballroom dancing and all," Lucy stated, noting how Erza came back to her senses with a small frown on her face.

"A partner? Who are you going with Lucy?" Erza asked, surprising the blonde as she had had no thoughts about that yet. Her only goal was to get Gray and Erza to come together, completely forgetting about herself in the process.

As Lucy tried to form a reply Erza cut her off. "Wait don't answer that. I'm sure you're going with Natsu," she muttered, Lucy sporting a blush but deciding not to refute. "Then who should I go with? Does everyone know about this Lucy?"

Lucy nodded a little faster than necessary. No one in the guild knew about it and that was part of the plan. If a certain water mage caught wind of it, who knew what would happen. "They've all gotten partners too, except for a few people like Gray," she hinted, hoping Erza would catch her drift.

But Erza frowned. "I'm sure he's going to go with Juvia so who should I go with?"

Lucy almost gaped in horror as she shook her head furiously. "No! You're mistaken Erza!" she shouted a little too loudly, garnering some looks from the guild but she blushed them off, shrugging sheepishly.

Lucy cleared her throat as she continued. "Gray's not going with Juvia. I heard that Juvia wouldn't be able to make it and that Gray didn't really want to go with her in the first place," she voiced weakly, beginning to lose confidence when Erza's skeptical expression didn't fade.

"I see. I guess I should take Gray as my partner then," she finally responded after the long momentary silence. Lucy had to restrain herself from sighing in relief, glad that the plan was moving along. "Great. I'll go tell Gray then," she offered, walking over to the ice mage who was seated uncomfortably with Juvia clinging onto his arm.

She noticed the water mage glare at her but she paid no heed to her, her attention solely focused on Gray. "I need to talk to you Gray," she looked at Juvia, "in _private_."

Taking the hint, Juvia pouted when Gray said nothing as he stood up and followed her, flashing Lucy a grateful smile as they walked toward Erza. He was glad to be out of the water mage's presence at least for a moment. He didn't know how much more of her fawning he could handle.

"Gray," Erza started, the ice mage looking up in a slight surprise. He cocked his head to the side, "Yeah?"

"I heard that you don't have a partner for the ball," she continued, confusing him in the process. Ball? What ball? He didn't hear about any ball. Sensing his confusion, Lucy bit her lip, hoping that she wouldn't get discovered.

"Ball? Wh–" He was cut off when he felt a sudden pain in his foot. Looking down, he saw Lucy digging her heel into his shoe for no apparent reason. He was about to ask her what she was doing but noticed that she was signalling for him to play along with her eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Erm, yeah. I don't have a partner for the ball," he replied awkwardly, Lucy almost fainting in relief. That was a close one. If she had been discovered, it was a guaranteed failure on Plan D and she didn't want to risk that fate.

Erza smiled, catching him off guard. It had been a while since he had last seen her smile. He kinda missed it. "Then would you like to be my partner?" she offered kindly, Gray suddenly stunned for words.

He discreetly shared eye contact with Lucy, asking what he should do when she responded with a small nod. Well, it wasn't like he wasn't going to accept anyway. "Yeah, sure Erza. Just tell me what time I should pick you up and I'll be there."

For some reason Erza shook her head, puzzling him at her response. "That won't be necessary since I'll be travelling with Lucy but thank you for the offer."

Gray said nothing, already confused as he was, opting to just silently nod instead. He couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed at her words, a part of him wanting to pick her up since it was sort of reminiscent of a date.

"Well I'm off," and with that Erza Scarlet moved away, leaving the two to their thoughts. As soon as Erza was out of hearing range Gray turned toward Lucy, his tongue dripping with unanswered questions.

"So what the hell was that about Lucy?" he asked her, more curious that mad. However Lucy misinterpreted his tone and immediately felt guilty as she looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry for not telling you Gray, but there's this ball at Blue Pegasus tonight and due to circumstances, I can't tell anyone else about it," she explained, hoping that her explanation would ease his thoughts.

When she found that Gray had not responded, she grew instantly worried. "Juvia doesn't know if that makes you feel better. I just thought that you wouldn't want her as a partner and all," she finished lamely, noticing how his features had stayed unreadable.

"So who else knows?"

She bit her lip. "Only you, me and Erza. I'm going to tell Natsu too since he'll be my partner," the blonde replied.

Gray nodded, satisfied at her responses. He could use this night to rid himself of all the troublesome water.

"Well thanks for telling me Lucy. I'll see you later then at..."

She got the hint. "It starts at seven."

He nodded, waving her off with a slight smile. Meanwhile Lucy sighed in relief. Phase One was complete.

* * *

Moving into Phase Two was a little harder than she had expected because she had forgotten one vital fact, Gray had a broken arm, meaning that he was out of commission for the whole night. But that would not do. If this plan were to succeed, she had to find a way for Gray to dance even with his broken arm. Otherwise Erza would go off dancing with someone else, away from her partner the whole night and the long preparations would have been for nothing.

But it appeared that she did not need to think of anything for Gray had already gotten it covered. He had arrived in a black suit with a matching black tie, and the first thing that she noticed was how he didn't have a sling around his arm. She walked up to him, discreetly whispering to him as they waited for Natsu's appearance. "Where's your sling?"

He grinned at her. "I asked Wendy to heal it for me. Turned out that she had a spell for fixing bones," _although it was the first time she had ever used it_, he finished in his head. Wendy had been reluctant to try out the spell but as the ice mage had been so persistent, she couldn't reject his request. However Carla warned him that they would not be responsible for any unknown side effects that would most likely take place though he had paid no heed to their warning, deciding to take the risk for once.

Lucy nodded, pleased at how well this had turned out before she spotted a familiar pink haired dragon slayer walking toward her, Happy in tow. "Hey Lucy!" he shouted toward her, waving his hands in excitement.

She only sighed at his enthusiasm but was none the less pleased with his appearance, deciding to walk up to him instead to leave Erza and Gray to do their own little thing. When she had stopped in front of him, he looked around in slight confusion. "Where is everybody Lucy? Erza and Gray are here but what about the rest of the guild?"

Lucy bit her lip, remembering that she had failed to inform him on the lack of attendance from the rest of the guild. She took a peek to see that Erza and Gray were busily engaged in a conversation and thus wouldn't hear her confession. "I didn't tell the rest of the guild," she muttered, Natsu's eyes dilating in surprise.

"You didn't tell them? Why?" Happy was curious this time too when he noticed the lack of Carla at the ball.

"It's all a part of Mira's plan. The sole purpose of this ball was to bring Erza and Gray," she discreetly pointed to the two behind her, "together. You don't know about the matchmaking plans currently going on in the guild do you Natsu?"

"So this is what Elfman had gone through," he muttered to himself, Lucy frowning in confusion.

"How did you know about that Natsu?"

"Elfman was a little too loud in his complaining," Happy responded this time. No wonder.

When she looked back at Natsu, she found him grinning deviously. "Okay let's do this then Luce," he announced with more enthusiasm than she expected.

"They like each other," Happy sang along when they turned around to see what was going on. Erza and Gray were standing a little closer than usual, and Lucy could see Gray looking especially enraptured.

* * *

"You look nice Erza," he had commented awkwardly when Lucy had left him for Natsu. Erza turned around, finally noticing his appearance after having a chat with a Blue Pegasus member.

"Oh you're here Gray," she remarked, a small pain going through his heart. So she didn't even notice me, he commented bitterly as he forced a small chuckle to laugh it off.

"Yeah, I just arrived a few minutes ago, compared to Natsu who only came a few seconds ago." He motioned toward Natsu, Happy and Lucy who were engaged in a conversation a little ways from them.

Erza looked at where he had pointed. "Ah, so Natsu's here too." He had to admit that made him feel a little bit better but not much. "I wonder where everyone else is."

"They're n–" Ah wait. He had just remembered Lucy telling him that no one in the guild knew apart from the four of them, however from what he had heard he had a strong feeling that she had neglected to tell Erza this fact also.

"I mean, they're probably just running late. You know how they are," he amended quickly. She nodded, seemingly believing his comment before her eyes trailed off behind him to look at the dancing couples.

Noticing her lack of attention, Gray followed her eyes to see her staring rather longingly at the dance floor. Well it was now or never. He was never really a dancing type of guy but for Erza he didn't mind.

"Would you like to dance Erza?" he asked politely, offering a hand for her to take. Erza looked back at the ice mage's expectant expression before smiling warmly at him. "It would be my pleasure Gray," she replied, gently placing a hand in his own.

He smiled, tightening his grip on her hand as he led her to the dance floor, right near the centre. Gray turned to face her, about to put his hand on her waist when he suddenly felt himself being spun around the dance floor, his vision going blurry as he spun at a dizzying pace. He couldn't seem to stop, not when Erza happened to be the one spinning him.

"E-Erza!" he tried stuttering out but the dizziness got to him so he had to keep his mouth shut in fear of vomiting all over the dance floor. Erza was too lost in the moment to even begin to listen to him.

"I was called the Dancing Demon you know Gray," she remarked proudly, not noticing how her partner had taken on a sickening shade of green. Instead she kept on spinning him around her, the couples around the two moving away to give them more space for Erza to continue her twisting and turning.

Gray could slightly hear the mutterings of the other couples around him about how they felt pity toward the one being spun. He couldn't help but agree, both with their comments and Erza's title. She was a dancing demon alright and he would wish this fate upon no one else. Being spun like a spinning top was the worst fate anyone could ever have.

"Erza!"

Erza looked up to see Lucy frantically running toward them. "I think you should stop spinning him for a bit. Gray's looking a little green," she pointed toward their rotating friend. If Erza had kept this up Gray wouldn't be able to walk anymore, and that would mean utter failure.

The scarlet haired mage frowned as she slowly brought the spinning to a stop, finally noticing Gray's sickly colour. He was sporting a putrid green, his mouth slightly puffed to signal that he was trying keep something in.

Gray had fallen onto the floor after that mad spinning session, clambering to Lucy's feet in gratitude. She had saved him from this dastardly fate and he wished he could say that if not for the bile having risen up his throat.

Erza squatted down next to him, her expression shifting into one of tender concern. "Gray, are you alright?" she asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Gray looked up, tempted to shout at her that _no_, he was _far_ from being alright, but was cut off when he saw the warm concern in his eyes. It had been a long, long while since she had given him that sort of look and Gray decided that he could let her off the hook just this once.

When he managed to return back to his normal skin tone, forcefully and painfully pushing the bile back down his throat, he moved to stand on his feet, Erza placing a hand on his arm to help him up. Gray flashed her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm alright now."

Erza looked relieved and the smile on her face never faltered. Lucy watched as the two silently smiled at each other, finally realising what Mira, Cana and Lisanna had seen in the two. They certainly had that spark, it was as obvious as day.

Of course something, or in this case someone had to break that moment. "They like each other," came the annoying song of the flying blue Exceed. Gray's cheeks were painted a rosy pink as the two mages turned to the cat, ready to tell him off when the worst of the two came along.

"You're such a weakling ice princess! I can't believe you let Erza do that to you. You should've seen your face. You looked like you would've puked any moment," Natsu taunted, much to the annoyance of his teammates.

As Gray was about to retort, Lucy stepped in. "Natsu, you're like this all the time with your motion sickness. I really don't think you should be talking." And with that the dragon slayer was silenced, with Lucy dragging him away with an apologetic wave.

"It appears Lucy has him wrapped right around her finger," Erza commented earnestly.

Gray smirked. "He's so whipped."

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What's so wrong about being whipped? I think it's touching how a man can turn into a–"

"Sappy wimp," Gray cut in, earning himself a glare from Titania.

"_Softhearted_ person as I was going to say, because of their lover," she finished, her eyes glossing over a bit.

Gray shrugged. "I guess if you like that stuff then go ahead."

Erza frowned at him. "Mark my words Gray, some day you'll be just as _whipped_ as Natsu is and you'll see what I'm talking about."

Outwardly he simply shrugged her comment off, however he had taken the comment to heart, already knowing the reality of it. He was already as whipped as Natsu was, but she didn't need to know that yet.

"Anyways, I think we should try dancing again since we're still here." He motioned toward the dance floor and the couples engaged in their respective dances.

Erza nodded, already about to take his hands when he stopped her. She looked up in confusion to find him sporting a very serious expression on his face. "Gray?"

"If we're going to dance Erza, we have to do it my way," he declared with a firm tone, stunning Erza at his change of attitude. However who was she to say no? He already had that determined expression on his face and she couldn't say that she wasn't curious as to what his way was.

"You know how to dance?"

He looked away in embarrassment. "Ul taught me when I was her student. She noticed how I always got bored so she thought that dancing would fix that. It didn't of course but yeah. I know how to dance. I just don't like showing it because I'm really bad," he explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of his nape.

Erza simply grinned at him. "I'm sure you're not that bad. Come on Gray, show me your way then," she motioned for him to take the lead.

He nodded, moving forward to take her by the waist, successfully this time too, as he entwined their hands. He motioned for Erza to place her free hand on his shoulder before he started leading her around the dance floor.

"So it's back, side, front and then side again. I'm sorry if I can't elaborate because I only know the guy's part," he said sheepishly as he tried to explain the movement of their feet.

Erza shook her head. "It's fine. So it's forward for me right?" Just as she said that, she found that her heel had not landed on a smooth and flat surface, instead landing on something very cushiony.

Gray yelped in pain, pausing the two's movement as Erza stepped back with an apologetic expression. "Are you alright Gray? I didn't mean to step on your foot like that," she apologised, watching Gray hop on one foot to massage his other. He shook his head, trying to bear through the pain that was daring to tear his foot apart.

With gritted teeth he schooled his expression into one of nonchalance. "I'm fine Erza. I've nursed more worse wounds than this," he commented, his facade threatening to break when he felt another shot of pain shoot through his being.

She still looked a little unconvinced but the temptation to dance was becoming too strong to resist. "If you say so Gray. Should we resume?"

With one last puff Gray gently placed his foot down, ignoring the pain as he moved to take Erza's hand once more. "How about you look down at your feet this time to prevent anymore accidents," he proposed, Erza decidedly nodding in agreement.

With that they continued their small waltz, back first then to the side. It had gone well at first, Erza able to successfully move forward without stepping on Gray's foot until they moved to the side again and she had miraculously stepped on his foot once more. It was worse this time because she had stepped on the exact same foot as before and he had still not recovered from the inexplicable pain.

Another yelp came out of Gray's mouth as they repeated the process once more. Erza expressing concern, Gray too whipped to say anything and instead opting to bear the pain, Erza too distracted by the dance floor to decline and thus the dance continuing once more. This time Gray made sure to keep substantial space between the both of them in order to save his throbbing foot. Surely with a gap that wide stepping on his foot would be difficult.

It was difficult yes, but it was never impossible when once again, Gray found himself hopping around the dance floor like a mad man. How had she done it? Three times in a row on the same exact foot? But she was _Titania_ and she could do anything, including stepping on the same foot thrice in a row regardless of adjustments made to prevent it.

"Maybe we should stop Gray," Erza finally muttered, noticing the pain her partner was in.

Gray shook his head, refusing to stop just because of some painful injuries to his foot. He could still move right? And until he was deemed incapacitated, he would keep dancing just to see that smile on her face. "There's another way we could still dance, just without those shoes you're wearing. You don't happen to have some flats in your inventory do you?"

She smirked. "Of course I do." And with that a small blinding light engulfed her feet as she requipped into more comfortable and way more safer shoes. Gray looked in relief at her shoes, more that happy that those demon shoes were gone. Demon shoes for a dancing demon, he remarked bitterly.

Fixing himself up and easing the pain in his foot, he moved forward to take Erza in his arms again. This time however he made sure that she was standing on his feet this time so that he would do all the moving. "Are you sure? Wouldn't that add more pressure to your throbbing foot?"

He hadn't thought about that but he still wasn't going to back down. "You can just put most of your weight on my other foot then. I'll be supporting most of your weight anyway so it wouldn't really affect me," he replied nonchalantly.

Erza chuckled. "You really want to dance don't you?"

He simply smiled at her, choosing not to reply. He didn't want to dance, not really. But since it was with her, he couldn't refuse.

Gray took her by the waist, helping her step onto his toes as he unintentionally brought her closer to him whilst trying to support her weight. She placed her hand on his shoulder as they entwined their other hands, Erza looking up to face him. She was surprised at the close proximity of their faces, already feeling his breath caress her face.

The ice mage forced down a blush as he cleared his throat, doing his best to calm himself. His heart was pounding all too loudly against his chest and considering their closeness, there was a high possibility she would hear. Erza meanwhile found that Gray looked better up close. From this distance she could see more of the scar above his eyebrow as well as the sharpness of his features and his well defined jaw. She had to say, he really was quite handsome (not that she hadn't noticed before).

"I'm not too heavy am I?" she asked softly, noticing him start to look away.

He shook his head, readjusting his hands to make it more comfortable for them both. "You're pretty light actually," he answered earnestly, surprised at how light the Queen of Fairies really was. With her aura and stature, he never expected her to be so light. Perhaps it was her armor that made her look as though she were really heavy.

"Okay, here we go." Following the beat of the music, he stepped backward, and then to the side, and then forward to complete the square. Erza made sure to keep herself steady as she stood on his feet, adjusting herself whenever she felt as though there was too much pressure on Gray's left foot.

Gray continued the waltz, moving swiftly along the dance floor as Erza followed along, her lips breaking into a wide grin for she rather liked Gray's way of dancing. He smiled along with her, beginning to enjoy the waltz as he watched her eyes crinkle into moon crescents. "You're enjoying it I'm guessing."

Erza nodded happily. "I rather like your way of dancing," she remarked, Gray nodding to himself. Of course she would like his way of dancing, who wouldn't? Her way was pure madness, not even fit to be called dancing. Perhaps torture was a better word?

"So you think you can dance on your own now?" he asked after completing the square once more. She nodded confidently, the ice mage coming to a stop.

"It seems pretty easy enough." He didn't doubt that. It was easy, she just seemed to make it all the more difficult.

Erza slowly stepped off his feet, resuming her position but on the floor this time. Making sure they were in the right position, Gray made the first move. Erza stepped forward, following his footsteps as she kept her eyes on his face. She found that if she didn't think too much the movements came naturally to her. Gray on the other hand was hoping that his feet were going to be okay. She wasn't wearing heels so even if she did stub his toe, it wouldn't be as painful as before but it was Erza, and with Erza you never know.

As they continued their dance, three pairs of curious eyes watched the couple as they moved across the dance floor. One spectator in particular was looking especially happy. "I think it may actually be a success this time! Did you see how close they were? Something must've happened," Lucy babbled excitedly to her companions.

"Yeah, like Gray getting stepped on by Erza," Natsu snickered to which the blonde nudged him in the arm.

"Shh, at least it got them to stand closer. It's not everyday you see Gray and Erza dancing together," she retorted, her eyes following the waltzing couple.

"That's because Gray can't dance," Natsu uttered in response.

Happy shook his head. "Actually Gray can dance Natsu. I've seen him dance before."

The pair beside him raised an eyebrow at the sudden revelation. "You have Happy?" the salmon haired mage asked in surprise.

The Exceed nodded. "I saw him dancing when he..."

Happy abruptly stopped in his sentence, confusing the two mages beside him. "He what?" Lucy asked but he said nothing as he stared wide eyed at the dance floor.

"What's wrong Happy?" Natsu asked worriedly. Happy mechanically turned his head to face them, a worrying expression on his face.

"They're gone."

His declaration prompted them to look back at the dance floor where the dancing couple was nowhere to be found.

_"Eh?!"_

* * *

They were doing fine, Gray was certain of that. What he was uncertain of however was how the hell he ended up groaning on the floor in pain. This time it wasn't his foot that was causing him all the pain but his right arm, which he thought had already been healed. Apparently not for a searing pain had shot through his arm, causing him to scrunch his face to convey his utmost pain, the pain that was threatening to tear out his right arm. So _this_ was the side effect Carla was talking about. It appeared that along with the spell's effects having worn off it left him with an unbearable pain in his right arm.

The sudden pain was what caused him to suddenly stop as Erza looked at him in worry. "Gray?" she called gently, noticing his features scrunch up in pain.

Erza felt his arm drop from her waist, watching as he took a step back to take hold of his broken arm. He looked up at her with gritted teeth, "My arm. It's hurting again."

She knew that this was their cue to leave so she moved closer to him and placed his left arm over her shoulder. Supporting all his weight, she carefully manoeuvred them out of the dance floor, making sure not to put Gray in anymore pain. Normally one would do this if the other was unable to walk but she had a feeling that despite his arm being the limb in pain, it was probably affecting his gross motor skills also.

Usually Gray would've rejected her help, disliking how Erza would become manlier than he was when she did so but the pain in his right arm was becoming more unbearable by the second that he had no choice but to accept her help. His broken arm was more painful than before, and Gray had a strong inkling that Wendy's spell only amplified the pain.

"Are you okay Gray?" she asked softly as she slowly led him out of the venue. He nodded his head, letting his arm lay limp beside him in an attempt to ease the pain.

"I'm fine. It just hurts a little more than I expected," he muttered.

Erza frowned as she continued walking. "I was wondering why you decided to dance with me when your arm was broken."

Gray turned sheepish, an embarrassed blush now painting his cheeks as he completely forgot about his broken arm, thoughts on how he was going to respond consuming his mind. "It was broken but I asked Wendy to heal it."

She raised a scarlet eyebrow. "I never knew she could heal broken bones."

He was tempted to scratch his nape but both his arms were out of commission so he settled for a sheepish grin instead. "She can't, well she could but she hadn't used the spell before. She used it for the first time on me and it worked but Carla warned me that there would be side effects. I'm guessing these are the side effects. It wears off after a certain amount of time and when it does, the pain is presumably doubled," he confessed, glad that she could not see his reddened face.

Erza's frown only deepened. "Why would you go to such measures Gray? I would've been happy to let you rest the whole evening instead of ask you to come dance with me."

"I guess I just wanted to dance with _you_ that's all," he muttered but Erza was able to hear it. She didn't say anything, pretending that she did not hear. Instead she decidedly changed the topic, much to Gray's relief. He didn't know what he'd do if she continued asking him questions that he really did not want to answer.

As they continued on their way a soft smile crept onto her face, never once leaving her as she relished in Gray's company. She definitely wanted to dance with him again, that was for sure.

* * *

**PLAN D: SUCCESS**

**SUCCESSFUL COUPLE IN THE END: FAILURE (STILL FRIENDZONED)**


	6. Plan E

**PLAN E: EXPERIMENT**

* * *

Gray was left out of swing for the next couple of days, Lucy hearing that his arm was still very much broken and that Wendy had advised he stay at home for a couple of days. Albeit his reluctance Gray was eventually persuaded to stay home after hearing how overridden with guilt the young sky dragon slayer was. Juvia was left alone to moan around the guild over the absence of her beloved and how she was not there to care for him. Though, thanks to Erza's efforts, the water mage was kept from going out and breaking into the injured ice mage's home.

While Lucy had decided to take the couple of days as a nice long break from the crazy plans she had been pulled into, Mirajane took the chance to refine her plans, revamping and carefully setting up the next plan she had in stall. Of course it would bring nothing but chaos when Lucy caught wind of it.

"Are you serious Mira? Where do we even start?" the blonde asked in exasperation, reading through the newest plan.

Mira only grinned. "Don't worry about that Lucy. I've got it all covered. All we need now is Gray and Erza," she replied nonchalantly, Lucy raising an eyebrow at her confidence.

Before she could even open her mouth to respond, the redhead in question interrupted their private conversation. "Need me for what?" Erza asked, having heard the last of the conversation.

Lucy almost panicked at the interruption, afraid that they were found out as she shared a worried look with the barmaid. Mira appeared unaffected, her grin seemingly having grown bigger at the sight of the redhead. This could be a lot easier than she expected. "We were just talking about a mission you and Gray could go on," she replied smoothly as Lucy quickly hid the folder.

Erza raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh?" she remarked, her interest piqued.

Mira nodded, taking out a flyer from beneath the bar counter. "It's an experiment to test the bond between two close friends. I figured that since you and Gray are so close, you two could go for it. It's nothing too hard Erza, and it pays well too," the barmaid explained, handing the flyer over.

The redhead nodded as she digested the information, scanning through the flyer. "Perhaps we could go. It'd be nice to take an easy mission for once, and since Gray has only just recovered, this would be good for him," she muttered more to herself. Taking her eyes off the flyer, she smiled at Mira gratefully. "Thanks for the suggestion Mira. Now if you'd excuse me, I have to go fetch Gray."

The two mages watched in amazement as Erza walked out of the guild, surprised that she had taken the bait. Lucy turned to Mira wide eyed. "I can't believe it worked," she remarked a little excitedly.

Mira nodded in agreement, also surprised yet already having expected the girl's full cooperation. Erza may have been subtle about it, but Mira noticed her enthusiasm when it came to taking missions alone with Gray. Perhaps her plans were working after all. She flashed Lucy a knowing smile. "I told you I had it covered."

* * *

He was not expecting to awaken to a pair of honey brown eyes looking down at him at a very close proximity. Gray's eyes bulged in shock when he realised who those brown eyes belonged to and he had almost bolted upright if it weren't for her armored hand pushing him down.

"Erza?" he spluttered in disbelief, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he was not dreaming. It would have been a very sweet dream if it were.

Erza stood up, her eyes taking in his form. "You seem to have healed up nicely Gray."

He nodded, still a little dumbstruck. "Yeah. Wendy did a great job."

"Well then, that would mean that you'll be fine for this mission Mira gave me," she declared, thrusting the job flyer into the ice mage's well toned chest.

He took the flyer in curiosity, sitting upright to read it properly. When he read through the request, he looked up at Erza with a raised eyebrow. "An experiment to test our bond? I wonder why they'd need that sort of info though."

The requip shrugged, never having pondered too much on it. "So, shall we go?" she asked promptly, not wanting to linger around aimlessly for the next hour.

Gray gave the flyer back to her, giving her a lazy nod. "Yeah, I guess. Just let me change." With that, the mage nodded before exiting the room, deciding to give the male a little privacy. Although it was nothing she hadn't seen before, unfortunately.

The two left the house five minutes later, Gray managing to convince the redhead to leave all her unnecessary luggage at his house. Albeit her reluctance she complied, realising that for once maybe she had overpacked. Gray welcomed her compliance wholeheartedly as he set her luggage around his living room, glad that he wouldn't end up having to help her lug around her mountainous luggage.

"How long's the ride?" the ice mage asked once the pair had boarded the train.

"About an hour and a half," she replied, having already ordered a slice of cheesecake. Gray nodded, deciding to use the time to sleep after being so graciously awakened by the requip mage in front of him a few hours too early.

Silence overcame the two, Gray having fallen asleep and Erza munching quietly on her sweet treat. While the train ride was a bit long and uneventful Erza took the time to examine her companion, having never fully realised the extent of his physical growth. She had always known that the ice mage was handsome, but looking at him now while he was fast asleep made her realise just how handsome he was. With his chiselled features, his well defined jaw, and his messy raven locks, it was no wonder that Juvia and most other girls in Magnolia ogled over him. He was truly a sight to behold.

The redhead continued staring at him, noting the peacefulness in his features. She had never seen the ice mage look so at ease before. Sure he was one of the most laid back people in the guild but he always had a sort of troubled look on his face when she looked closer. It was like the shadows of his past continued to haunt him yet he pushed it away with his nonchalant attitude. As she continued staring at him, Gray suddenly bolted upright with widened eyes, shocking the redhead out of her trance.

Looking away trying to fight the blush down, she turned back to Gray in concern. "Is something the matter?" she asked, noting his troubled features.

Shaking it off he shook his head. "It's nothing. How long to go?"

Erza looked around for a clock. "Less than ten minutes. I guess we should prepare ourselves."

Nodding in agreement, he perched an arm on the window and stared out at the scenery, Erza looking away in embarrassment. She mentally berated herself for her foolish actions. She had almost been caught ogling at one of her best friends like a creep. What kind of friend was she?

The pair departed the train ten minutes later, taking a further fifteen minutes to reach their destination. As soon as they arrived at the specified location, they shared a look of mutual skepticism. The client of the request was supposed to have been a renowned researcher, so why did their world famous laboratory look like a love motel? With a garish exterior, the three storied building was lit up by a neon lit sign saying 'Psychology Research Department' at its centre. Parts of the building had several love hearts painted in different sizes and shades of red, matching the rosy pink paint of the brick walls. Overall the lab looked extremely cheaply made and just plain tacky. With an exterior like this, it was hard to believe it was a laboratory at all.

Heaving a shrug, Gray followed the redhead into the laboratory, his eyes alert for anything suspicious. He was getting an uneasy feeling about this job and he had a strong feeling that Erza was too.

When they reached a plain wooden door Erza paused to knock thrice, patiently awaiting for a response. Not even ten seconds later the door opened to reveal a messy haired old man, his eyes twinkling beneath his enormous round glasses which looked more like two magnifying glasses stuck together. His mouth curved into a wide grin when he took notice of the two as he greeted them cheerfully, moving aside to make way for them to enter.

"You two must be the mages Mirajane was talking about," he spoke joyfully, surprising the pair.

They raised an eyebrow, sharing a look before Erza decided to speak. "You know Mira?" she asked, the whole situation becoming more and more suspicious. Gray knew something was up. He just didn't know what.

The scientist was about to nod when he realised his mistake. He paled slightly, noticing that the two mages were on to him and that the plan was at risk of being compromised. Clearing his throat after thinking up of an excuse, he faked a surprised look. "Oh, you didn't know? Mirajane helped me once long ago. We still do keep in touch. Such a nice girl she is."

It was true, for the most part. Mira had indeed helped him, and they did keep in touch, for reasons that were known only to them.

Gray and Erza shared a calculating look, unsure of whether he was telling the truth but ultimately deciding to drop it. "I see. Well then Mr..."

"Doctor Meylen."

"Doctor Meylen," she corrected, "I am Erza Scarlet and this is Gray Fullbuster. We heard from Mira that you're conducting an experiment on the bond between two close friends, and we've decided to help."

Doctor Meylen adjusted his glasses, the twinkle never leaving his eyes. Interesting. These two would make very interesting test subjects. "I see. Well you have my gratitude. If you'd just follow me, I will lead you to my machines."

With that he walked further into the laboratory, Gray and Erza following closely behind. Doctor Meylen led the two to the back of the lab where two rooms were situated next to each other. With a large window on both rooms and a door beside it, it was then that they realised that this was where the experiments would take place. On the outside of the rooms nearby, a large set of lacrima vision screens were set up, monitoring the results of the experiment. Inside of both rooms sat a lounge chair with a large piece of technology that neither of the mages knew of.

Turning to the pair, Doctor Meylen gave his instructions. "You both will go into a room each where I'll equip you with my detectors. Once it is on, I ask that you both relax and close your eyes. My machine will show you situations which I will base my results on."

They nodded in understanding, Gray taking the room to the left and Erza taking the room to the right. Doctor Meylen gathered the helmets from each room and secured them onto each mage's head. To the average person, the detectors looked like a helmet with different wires popping out, and while true Doctor Meylen knew it was more than that.

Truth be told, this experiment was to test the bond between two _significant others_, not two close friends. His detectors would reach into a person's mind to unlock situations involving their significant other that would evoke strong reactions and would measure just how much of an effect the other person would have on them. The machine would stimulate these situations as if they were really happening.

After ensuring that both mages were securely equipped, Dr Meylen moved back to the controls and initiated the system.

* * *

Darkness. That was the first thing he noticed once he had finally relaxed. Of course, it was supposed to be dark since he had closed his eyes yet he couldn't help but feel like there was something more to this experiment. Was he supposed to see something?

He felt his body aimlessly float about for what felt like forever until he saw a bright light which ventured closer and closer toward him. Without hesitation he reached out into the light, watching as it consumed his being and suddenly he felt as though he were falling. The vertigo that hit him after he landed on the ground with a loud thud took a while for him to overcome as the ice mage tried standing up.

He leaned against a tree, suddenly feeling a sharp pain near his stomach where he reflexively placed both his palms on. Blood? He noticed the crimson liquid covering his hands as he applied pressure to the wound. His arms and torso were all covered with scratches and bruises, and his pants, which were the only things he had on, were muddy and ripped. What on Earthland happened to him?

Finally taking the time to settle against the tree, he realised that he was in a forest, not too different from the one on Tenrou Island. The muddy forest floor, the luscious green shrubs, and the massively tall trees, it brought back unwanted memories.

Just as he was about to ponder on what exactly had happened to him, a familiar voice echoing in the distance caught his attention.

"Do not doubt the strength of Fairy Tail!" he heard the voice shout, full of ferocity and determination. It was a female's voice, that he could tell, and from the way she had said it it appeared that she was having trouble.

Without a moment to waste, Gray pushed himself off the tree as he stumbled to find the source of the voice. It was a Fairy Tail mage, and she sounded oddly familiar. If she were in the midst of battle, he figured that it was his duty as a fellow comrade to help. And that was what he planned on doing as he listened closely for her voice.

The sound of panting breaths from his left immediately had him dashing as fast as he could to the direction it came from, Gray struggling to ignore the searing pain from his stomach. She seemed as though she needed help, and help was what he was going to give her.

However the sight that greeted him was nothing short of a nightmare. Right before him stood a bruised and battered Erza Scarlet, devoid of her armor and instead dressed in her flame hakama pants that were badly torn apart, struggling to escape the clutches of a muscular build behind her. She was being held down in a choke vice grip, her two swords knocked away to the side and her legs trapped beneath a well placed log. Gray was too stunned at seeing the redhead so battered that he took no note of the enemy who had taken out a dagger.

"Erza?" he let slip, the redhead managing to hear his call. Her head whipped up to find a dumbstruck ice mage, probably too shocked at her ragged state. The enemy had been much more powerful than she realised. And thanks to her carelessness, she was at the brink of death.

"Gray," she responded softly, her eyes tender before the ice mage realised that the light was slowly dying out of her eyes.

"Erza?" he questioned loudly, before realising the extent of the situation. His eyes travelled from her face to her chest, where he could see a silver dagger protruding wickedly, the metal taunting him with the life it had taken.

"ERZA!"

* * *

The light that greeted her when she closed her eyes was blinding, though Erza did wonder where the light had come from. She had closed her eyes, so why did it feel like they were still open?

The bright light that had greeted her soon consumed her, and she felt a huge gust of wind surround her being. She had no time to think before the scenery changed, into one of the riverbank in Magnolia.

As the gust of wind died down to a slight breeze, Erza admired the view of the river before her despite having seen it so many times before. The sun was setting, giving her a picturesque view of the orange and pink streaks across the sky as they reflected upon the river waters below. The redhead was so entranced by the sight that she didn't hear the light footsteps approaching from behind her.

"Erza," a voice called, snapping her immediately out of her trance. She whipped her head around to meet a tall figure with dark hair. For some reason she couldn't see his face as it was blurred out, but he seemed very familiar. He had broad shoulders and from beneath his shirt, Erza could tell that he was well built.

Suspicious, she asked, "Who are you?"

The figure let out a mellifluous chuckle that was like music to her ears. "Are you really asking me that Erza? You know, you just ruined the moment right there."

The more the figure spoke, the more confused she became. That low baritone voice was definitely familiar, yet she couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to. However one thing was certain. She wanted to hear more of it.

"What do you mean?" she asked, deciding to play along. Perhaps this way she would find out who it really was.

Although she couldn't see his face, she could tell that he had become shy when she noticed him scratch the back of his head and fiddle with something in his pocket. She patiently waited for him to respond, surprisingly more curious than she would have liked.

What happened next gave her the shock of her life. Pulling out a small velvet box from his pocket, Erza watched with wide eyes and her mouth agape as the male in front of her leaned down onto one knee. He cleared his throat, and although she couldn't see his face, she could tell that he was staring directly at her, his eyes piercing into her soul.

"I may not be very good with words but you know better than anyone that I mean every word I say. Ever since I laid my eyes on you, I just knew you were someone special. I was too stubborn to admit it to myself back then, but ever since I saw you that day, crying on the riverbank, I realised that we had a lot more in common than I had originally thought.

"After seeing you so broken and so vulnerable, very unlike the strong and bold mage I knew, I made it my goal to be the one to crack your armor and make you smile. I know that over the years that we've had our ups and downs, but if there's one thing that has stayed the same it's my feelings for you and my need to protect you, even if you are clearly stronger than me."

Erza's heart pounded against her chest, a feeling of warmth overwhelming her body. She could feel a surge of elation shoot through her, and she could feel her cheeks start to heat up in shyness. She had never felt so extremely happy before, and even though she could not yet tell who it was, she could clearly feel the love he had for her. It was strong and powerful, and she couldn't stop herself from feeling like she had fallen for him too.

"And I know that I want to keep loving you and protecting you for as long as I live, which is why I want to make you mine forever."

With that the male opened the velvet box to reveal a carefully crafted ring made of ice, its 'diamond' twinkling far brighter than she had ever seen. Erza was momentarily speechless by the beauty of the ring, having never seen anything so beautiful in her life before. It was only when she heard him clear his throat that she finally tore her eyes away, looking into a pair of piercing navy blue eyes who were looking at her with utmost sincerity and love.

"Erza Scarlet, will you marry me?"

Her breath hitched in her throat as the male's face began to clear, realisation sinking in uncharacteristically late. It wasn't like her to pick up on things so late, but none of that mattered when she stared into the loving eyes of her best friend.

"Gray?!"

* * *

She was a bit unsure of what was supposed to happen, but she was absolutely positively certain that the experiment should not have led to this.

Ever since the two mages had come back from the mission, they seemed a little different from before. Now Lucy did not know exactly what happened, but did know that the experiment was supposed to have brought forth revelations that would have triggered a confession of some sort. Yet what they got instead were the two mages looking more distant than she had ever seen them. Lucy bit her lip worriedly as her eyes darted between her two friends who were sitting on the edges of the table, far away from each other, with Natsu seated in front of them.

Gray had taken on a more reclusive look, his shoulders hunched and his head lowered most of the time. Whenever someone mentioned Erza, or she was caught in his peripheral vision, he would flinch before turning the opposite direction. Lucy had never seen anything like it before. Whatever happened must have hit him hard.

The ice mage couldn't get the images of Erza being stabbed to death right in front of his eyes out of his mind. The scene kept replaying itself, over and over again, and he had endured a number of sleepless nights because of it. He was there, and yet he could do nothing. All he did do was stand around like a dumbstruck idiot as he watched the redhead who held a special place in his heart get brutally stabbed to death. He should've acted faster, he shouldn't have blanked out like that. And when she said his name, almost pleading, he almost punched a wall. His fists clenched in frustration. He should have done something, anything. Even if it was just something made up, it could have happened.

Which was why it was hard for him to look at her without getting images of her dying out of his head. He was supposed to protect her. No scratch that, he _had_ to protect her. It was his duty to protect her, and since it was all just something in his head and the real Erza was living and breathing right next to him, he would make sure he did a damn good job at it.

Erza on the other hand, could not look at Gray the same way again. Lucy had noticed her becoming more timid with her actions around Gray, and she had rubbed her eyes so many times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. But it was true. She had noticed the redhead bite her lip at the sight of Gray, and whenever he was mentioned she swore she could see a hint of pink stain her cheeks. What was going on?

The requip mage could not see Gray in the same light again. He, who was supposed to have been more like a little brother and a best friend to her, was becoming more and more like a man to her. It was like that day on the train, when she realised just how much he had grown. And after seeing him in that situation, of him proposing to her, even she could not deny the surge of happiness that had shot through her. The elation that overwhelmed her had been amazing, and surprisingly she did not mind one bit. Toying around with the idea of Gray being her lover didn't seem so much like a bad idea anymore. In fact, it felt like she was craving for it to be a reality. Erza was amazed with herself. She hadn't felt like this ever since Jellal, and speaking of Jellal, she had forgotten completely about him. Was this a sign?

Lucy's eyes continually darted between the two as Mirajane approached her, surprisingly happy. When the blonde noticed this, she couldn't help but feel like she was crazy. But Mira only flashed her a knowing smile.

"You'll see Lucy, you'll see."

* * *

**PLAN E: FAILURE**


	7. Plan F

**PLAN F: FIREWORKS**

* * *

"Gray-sama!"

The ice mage barely had time to react before a flash of blue tackled him to the ground, arms wounding tightly around his torso. Gray looked down in annoyance at the water mage who had a dreamy look on her face as she rested her head on his chest, snuggling into him. He was about to protest, trying to get her to release her vice-like grip when someone interrupted.

"Juvia, you're suffocating him," came a stern voice from above. Both mages looked up to see a rather scary looking Erza who had her arms crossed and her face knitted into a tight frown. His eyes lingered on the redhead, ignoring the water mage tightly clutching him. It had been a while since he had properly spoken to the redhead, and it was about time they did. Now that he had finally gotten over his guilt and replaced it with strong feelings of protectiveness, it was time that they abridge the gap that he stupidly created.

Intimidated, Juvia immediately let go and climbed off of Gray, giving him some space to get up. He flashed the redhead a grateful smile as he stood up to straighten himself up, Erza's frown only growing deeper. A strange feeling of possessiveness had overcome her but she willed it to go away as she stood firmly between the two.

"Juvia is sorry for almost suffocating Gray-sama. Please forgive her," the water mage pleaded, about to cling onto his arm when Erza flashed her a warning look which caused her to back away.

Gray shook his head. "It's fine Juvia," he said coolly, placing his hands in his pockets.

The blue haired girl smiled brightly, her expression turning moony as she marvelled at his kindness. Gray-sama is so kind, she thought dreamily to herself.

"But did you want something?" Gray asked, noting that the mage wouldn't normally do that (scratch that, she would) unless she was really happy.

The water mage's blue eyes immediately brightened as a wide smile slowly grew on her face. She clasped her hands together before talking animatedly. "Juvia found out that there will be firework display later tonight at the river bank," she began before her cheeks flushed a bright pink in shyness.

He nodded, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Juvia was hoping Gray-sama would accompany her," she continued hopefully, before her fantasies went wild.

"Of course I'll accompany you my little water droplet," her beloved Gray-sama would reply. And then they would take each other's hands as they rode off into the sunset.

Or in this case, they would go on a romantic date (Juvia almost squealed at the thought) and then while they watched the fireworks, Gray-sama would lean down and tell her, "I've always wanted to do this."

Before she could respond, he would cut her off with a sweet kiss. It would be just like in those romantic books she sometimes borrowed from Levy-san. Kissing under the fireworks with her Gray-sama. She couldn't wait, she thought giddily.

Gray's eyebrows furrowed. "What, like friends?"

His question brought her out of her reverie as she refocused on what was happening in reality. When she finally processed his words she almost fell down in shock. Juvia shook her head. "Juvia was hoping it would be more like a date," she admitted shyly, twiddling her fingers. She peeked up to look at him, only to find a deep frown etched onto his face.

A date? With Juvia? That was certainly something he had never thought of before. The more he thought about it however, the more unappealing it sounded. He really had never thought of Juvia in that way. She had always been just a close friend to him, a little like Lucy but he considered Lucy his little sister. He wondered how he was going to break this to her however. He wasn't normally that good at handling requests like these. He was just too awkward and too nice.

He opened his mouth, ready to respond when someone interjected.

"I'm sorry Juvia. Gray won't be able to accompany you tonight," Erza replied smoothly, crossing her arms as if daring Juvia to retaliate.

Juvia's expression immediately turned downcast, while Gray's eyes dilated in shock.

"He won't?"

"I won't?" They asked simultaneously, both rather surprised at the new turnout of events.

The redhead nodded firmly, sharing a small look with Gray before diverting her attention back to Juvia. "Yes. He will be with me tonight. Master had asked us to run some errands for him, and unfortunately they cannot wait."

Juvia pouted at the new information, saddened that her dreams wouldn't be coming into fruition that night.

"He is?"

"I am?" Both asked in unison once again, Gray even more surprised. Erza shared a hard look with him before he nodded frantically.

"Yes yes, I mean I am," he amended with faux confidence, turning to look at Juvia. "I'm sorry Juvia. Maybe next time?"

Erza frowned at the idea, not liking what it entailed. Juvia meanwhile, though disheartened, seemed to brighten up immediately at the chance of getting another chance. She hugged him tightly in happiness, the redhead beside them scowling openly now.

Stupid Gray. It was because he was too nice that he couldn't reject her. She thought that she had told him to make his feelings clear. Erza couldn't understand why she was suddenly feeling so annoyed and possessive. She didn't know what had come over her when she had lied to Juvia like that. All she knew was that she couldn't let him go to the firework display with Juvia. The very thought of it left a nasty taste in her mouth and made her stomach feel a bit funny. Her mind was about to be pulled back to a recent memory when she firmly shook it away. Not now, she told herself.

Erza's attention soon turned back to the hugging duo with Gray looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. This was her cue to break them apart as she tapped Juvia on the shoulder and motioned for her to let go. Juvia complied happily before walking off with a new jump in her step, Erza and Gray watching with bemused expressions.

"Did Gramps really give us an errand to go on?" he asked the requip made once Juvia was out of earshot.

Erza shook her head beside him. "No, but you're not going with Juvia to that firework display."

"Huh? Oh yeah. Thanks for that save by the way. I really owe you one," he noted, rubbing his nape.

The redhead nodded firmly. "Good. Then I will meet you at the riverbank at eight o'clock sharp. Don't be late," she warned before walking off, leaving Gray to his thoughts.

When he finally processed what she said he was dumbfounded. "Wait, _what?_"

* * *

"I didn't know there was a firework display tonight. I wonder what for though. I don't remember there being a special occasion," Lucy muttered to herself as she placed the poster sticking on the notice board.

"It's to celebrate the success of Plan F apparently," a voice came up from behind her. Lucy turned around, only to find the youngest of the Strauss siblings standing behind her.

"Plan F?" she asked as Lisanna came to join her.

She nodded. "It's Mira-nee's new plan for Gray and Erza. Something about how fireworks are romantic and how couples usually kiss under it," she explained, eyeing the poster.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "That explains it. But putting up a whole display just to get the two of them together? It sounds a little extreme, wouldn't you say Lisanna-san?"

Lisanna only shrugged. "It's Mira-nee," she pointed out and the blonde immediately agreed. Right, this one of Mira's plans. Of course she'd go overboard.

"But do you think it will work?"

Lisanna nodded. "It already did." She turned around to point at a dumbstruck ice mage standing shock still in the centre of the guild, as his eyes trailed Erza's retreating figure.

Lucy's eyes widened, pleasantly surprised. "Wow."

* * *

He looked down at his watch impatiently, tapping his foot on the grass of the riverbank. It was already five past eight yet there was still no sign of her. And she was the one who told him not to be late. Maybe she should have taken her own advice instead.

His dark navy orbs scoured the area in search for the redhead. There was quite a crowd already gathered at the riverbank, most being couples who were already lying down on their picnic blankets. He was probably the only one who was still alone because his date (_was this even a date?_) had yet to arrive.

Maybe he shouldn't have come after all. He didn't know why but when he had finally comprehended that Erza was practically asking him on a date he had felt more excited than he had ever been in his life. He had been agonising over the clothes he was supposed to wear (it was between a white coat and a black one) before he decided to screw it because he'd just lose the damn clothes anyway. It was then that he realised that he was beginning to feel those butterflies again, the same ones that only ever appeared around her.

But Erza was still a no show. She had yet to arrive and the fireworks were supposed to start soon. He decided that because he was such a good guy that he would give her another five minutes. If she still didn't turn up he would go home and sleep. It wasn't like he had any other plans that night, and no he wasn't going to turn to Juvia for company. He wasn't that desperate.

As he kept his eye out on the look for a mop of bright red hair, a voice behind him caught his attention.

"Gray!"

He whipped around almost immediately, having recognised that voice. He turned only to see a pretty redhead in a simple floral dress, her hair tied to the side in a ribbon. He gawked at her having rarely seen the girl out of her armor, and wow she cleaned up good.

"Erza?" he spluttered as the girl walked up to him. He could feel blood rush to his face but he willed himself to stay calm, hoping that his magic would cool the sudden heat in his cheeks.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had forgotten to get something," she apologised sincerely, noting the male's own appearance. He was dressed only in a simple plain blue t-shirt and jeans but he still looked good. Truthfully he looked good in anything.

Gray accepted her apology almost immediately. "It's fine. I was worried you weren't going to show."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," she said sincerely as she smiled at him. Gray felt his heart suddenly pound faster as he looked away, unable to look at her as his cheeks began to flare up once more.

"So, what did you forget anyway?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible as he diverted the subject. Erza opened her purse, taking out a folded mat.

"I brought a mat, considering that neither of us wouldn't want to sit on the grass all night," she explained before unfolding it and placing it on the ground. Gray looked at it appreciatively before he moved down to help her. Soon they both sat down, making themselves comfortable on the mat as they waited.

"I wonder what the special occasion is," Gray brought up, motioning to the firework display.

Erza shrugged. "I'm not too sure either but I don't mind. It's been a while since I've seen fireworks and I've been looking forward to seeing them again."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Really? You know, if you wanted to see some fireworks you could've just asked me. I can make fireworks easy," he proclaimed, watching as a small smile graced her lips.

"Or I could ask Natsu," she pointed out to which he scowled.

"Don't ask that flame brain. His fireworks are nothing compared to mine."

Erza rolled her eyes at his remark. Their rivalry was so childish sometimes. "But they're called fireworks for a reason you know. They're not ice works."

He nonchalantly shrugged. "Doesn't matter. My ice can still make some damn good fireworks."

She rolled her eyes once more but couldn't help the grin that formed on her lips. She didn't realise just how much she had liked Gray's company. He always managed to get her to smile even in her foulest of moods. "Sure sure. Don't let that confidence get to your head though."

"High self esteem is proven to be healthy for you, you know," he pointed out jokingly.

"It's also proven to give you a big head," she retaliated with an air of confidence.

"So does your fist," he retorted to which she took faux offence to.

"Excuse me?" she challenged, pretending to be insulted.

He rubbed the back of nape, feeling slightly intimidated. "Your punches are pretty hard you know. They always leave me and Natsu with these big swollen bumps."

"That's because you deserve it. Who else would be able to keep you two in line?"

He huffed, crossing his arms like a spoilt child. "I'm not a child. Natsu is, but _I'm_ not."

"Sure," she teased, enjoying his annoyed state. She had never known how fun it was to tease him.

They continued their endless chatter to pass the time, Erza smiling more than she ever had as she engaged in some interesting conversation with the ice mage. Gray on the other hand was secretly pleased that he had been the one to put those smiles on her face, his pride swelling immensely.

It was only when they heard a loud burst in the sky that they finally tore themselves away from conversation, their attention now focused on the technicolor bursts in the sky. Erza watched in unadulterated awe as she watched the explosion of color light up the entire sky. She looked like a child on Christmas Day and Gray found himself drawn more to her than the actual fireworks. He had never seen her look so childlike before. It made his cheeks burn even hotter.

"Wow, look at that one Gray! Isn't it beautiful?" she exclaimed excitedly, pointing toward a firework that had exploded into a ring of red bursts. He jumped at the sudden intrusion as he tore his gaze away from the red haired beauty to see the rest of the fireworks.

"Yeah, it's great," he replied lamely, his eyes slowing drifting toward the redhead again. He didn't know what it was but he just couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, literally.

The firework show came to a close after twenty minutes of continual bursts of color lighting the sky. Whilst saddened that it had already ended, Erza felt especially energised after watching the display as she turned to Gray with a particularly bright smile.

"That was amazing," she praised as the male folded up the mat.

He looked up at her with a soft smile. "Yeah, it was," he replied distractedly, rather enjoying her enthusiastic display.

"Thank you for coming with me. I know you probably had other plans," she apologised sincerely, feeling suddenly guilty.

Gray shook his head almost immediately, flashing her a reassuring grin. "Don't worry. I wasn't going to do anything tonight anyway. I had more than enough fun here actually."

She smiled softly at him. "I'm glad. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the guild then?"

He nodded. "Night Erza."

"Goodnight Gray," she replied, taking two steps away when she abruptly halted in her tracks. Gray raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering why the girl had suddenly stopped. He watched silently as she turned back on her heel to face him. He was about to ask what was wrong when he felt a sudden pressure against his cheek. Soft lips brushed against the planes of his tanned skin, heightening his senses.

Gray's navy orbs widened in shock when he comprehended what had happened, the redhead pulling away. With her lips still curved into a gentle smile she said, "Thank you once again," before finally turning on her heel to retreat.

He gaped like a fish out of water as he dazedly watched her retreating figure, his hand going to his cheek as if the kiss left a scorching mark on his skin. Erza kissed him. On the cheek. Erza kissed him on the cheek.

His heart beat just a little bit faster.

(And somewhere in the distance, hidden behind some bushes, someone almost squealed.)

* * *

**PLAN F: SUCCESS**

**SUCCESSFUL COUPLE IN THE END: FAILURE (THEY'RE GETTING THERE!)**


End file.
